Hyne's Angel
by blessedsilence
Summary: Seifer dies before his time during Time Compression. Hyne decides to give him a second chance at life, if he can prove himself worthy as Squall's guardian angel. The only problem? Seifer still considers Squall his ultimate rival! SxS
1. The Death of a Knight

**Disclaimer**: my socks belong to a.d.i.d.a.s., my water belongs to those happy rear cleavage loving water guys, and my underoo's are now property of the great state of California. 

**Warnings**: bad writing (on my part =P) Slightly AU, eventual lemon (or lime, I still need to figure it out), language, and some other stuff.

**Real disclaimer**: Final Fantasy 8 and all it's thingee's belong to Squaresoft. 

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[Seifer]

I don't know how long I've been walking.  My aching feet are dragging the ground, and my throat screams for water.  But there is nothing here in this desolate place, nothing but sun-hardened earth.  I think I was supposed to be meeting someone, but I can't remember.

As I walk the endless walk faces flash continuously through my mind like a bad film.  Edea, my beloved matron, the first person who ever really cared about me.  Rinoa, who looked beyond my cocky exterior and loved me in her childish belief that she could 'fix' me.  Chicken-wuss, no, Zell.  Zell whom I always teased, but never will again.  Quistis, the haughty blond who was always better than me.  Selphie and Irvine, facing me in battle with eyes full of determination and fatigue.  But the person I see the most of is Squall.  The look of shock as I cut into his face, the surprise when he found me alive, the pain he tried to hide as I tortured him behind a mask of hate and indifference.  The worst vision is the deadness and pity I see in his eyes as we fought before Time Compression.

I sigh as I look all around me, seeing nothing but dry cracked earth and dusty skies.  I continue walking, not sure I could stop now that I've been continuing the motion for hours, maybe even days on end.  It's funny how time means nothing in Time Compression.

Finally I've reached the end of time and can go no further.  I can't even summon the energy to curse as I turn to head in a different direction and find that way blocked as well.  There is nothing on all sides of me; I'm floating on an island of time.

            With a sigh I think I deserve a break.  I remove my ragged trench coat and fold it carefully, placing it on my lap as I sit cross-legged on the ground.  The blood red cross on the sleeve catches my eye.  It was once my symbol, the mark I was going to leave on the world.  Now it's just a cloth reminder of better times.

My eyelids drop lower and lower as I sit there, and I decide it's high time to get some rest.  I place the folded coat on the ground and lay my head on it.  As I stare up at the surreal gray sky, something changes.  A bright light shoots up from the ground to my far left and drives away the darkness and despair.  I'm lying in a field of beautiful flowers.  I think I hear somebody call my name, Squall perhaps, but I'm beyond caring.  All I want to do is sleep, and I know my dreams will be full of light and laughter.  I smile peacefully at the thought, and allow my eyes to fall shut.  The darkness has never looked so warm and inviting.

**BS**: well, what do you think? Should I continue, or leave this as a loner fic whose lowly existence will be forgotten as soon as I **_get some reviews.  _**If that isn't enough of a hint… Heh okay thank you all for reading this and please have a nice day (and if you're a lawyer, email me.  I need legal help in getting ownership of my lovely underoo's!)


	2. A Worthy Proposition

**Disclaimer**: I pretty sure ff8 doesn't belong to me…*checks under bed, frowns, then nods wisely* nope, don't belong to me.

Dark Evrae Altana:  I'll agree the first chapter was very short, but it looked much longer written out by hand.  I have a lemon/lime planned for this fic, I'm just not sure yet.

I'm glad everyone seemed to like the first chapter ^^ now if I can only manage to keep with everyone's expectations we should be fine. =P

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            Something seems different as I awake.  After taking a moment to stretch and yawn loudly I realize I'm not wearing as shirt, but the warmness is still there.  I consider getting up and taking a closer look at my surroundings, but I'm far too comfortable where I am.  I start to close my eyes again when somebody speaks above my head.  "I really hate you, you know that right?"  

            I crack my eyes open and look for the speaker, but he doesn't seem to be in my direct line of sight.  Normally this would bother me, but I sense no danger and have no motivation to move.  Closing my eyes once more I growl out, "I'm trying to sleep, the hell do you want?"

            I hear a dry chuckle, the noise oddly comforting me and leaving me uneasy all at the same time.  "I just wanted to let you know I don't like you."  I hear a rustling noise from my behind me.  "Oh, and I'm supposed to prepare you for your meeting with Hyne."

            If this is a joke, I'm not laughing.  I let out a frustrated sigh and squeeze my eyes shut tighter.  "Tell your Hyne he can wait another day or so, and get the fuck away from me."  I try to turn my back to him but find I am oddly unable to do so.  Before I can think about it too much I feel a warm placed on my chest above my heart.  The speaker stares at the hand thoughtfully, and I get my first good look at him.

            He seems to be taller than me by only an inch or so.  His eyes are a smoky gray and seem to shine with an inward light, and his hair is the blackest I've seen.  He is shirtless as well, with tan skin and well-developed muscles.  He looks almost as good as I do…I notice a movement to my side and turn my head towards it reflexively.  "What the fuck?"

            He seems to remember I'm there and follows my line of sight.  Seeing what I'm looking at he smirks at me.  "Took you **that** long to notice?"

            I don't answer, too entranced by what I'm seeing.  Two large batwings darker than his hair go up above his shoulders then swoop gracefully back down to his ankles.  I imagine how wide his wingspan would be if he fully extended them, and then shake my head.  He flutters the wings, causing a gust of air in my direction.  He removes his hand from my chest and turns away from me with a knowing smirk.  The light catches the magnificent wings and I can see silver veins running the length of them.  I look up at him in shock.  "What the hell are you?"

            The winged man raises and eyebrow and deepens the familiar smirk.  "I am one of Hyne's Angels, as are you."

            I rub the bridge of my nose and sigh.  I don't know what this guys been taking to mess him up this much, but this is just too weird for me.  I try to stand up so I can tell him exactly what he can do with himself, but an unexpected weight brings me back to my knees.  I can feel parts of my body hit the ground about five feet on each side of me.  Already knowing what's coming and yet desperately not wanting to se I turn my head slowly to look.  A large blood red wing comes into my vision.  I snap my eyes shut, and then open them widely.  Wing is still there.

            The man's comes again in an indifferent tone.  "You do know that you are keep the Great Hyne waiting, don't you?"  

            Like I give a flying...never mind.   I fall back on my butt and glare up at him.  What the hell did you do to me," I question in the most menacing tone I can muster.

            He shrugs in the same careless manner.  His laid-back attitude is definitely getting on my nerves.  "I did nothing to you."  Well I'm so glad he cleared that up, fuck. I mentally add him to the list.

            I stand up carefully and look him in the eye.   "Then how do you explain these things!?"  The wings flap.  He gives me an amused glance.  I nod my head and roll my eyes.  "I get it, this is a dream, isn't it?  Any moment now I'm going to wake up in prison next to someone named Bubba right?"  I shakily move for the door.  Grabbing the door handle I turn back to him.  "Well that's not going to happen!  I don't know if you're my subconscious or what-the-fuck-ever, but its been great.  Really wonderful.  Be sure to send a postcard! Now if you don't mind I'll just be going…" I throw open the door and almost run smack into the most clothed person I've ever seen.  Robes, layers of silk, and a large hood cover everything but the person's glowing golden eyes.  Well this is great. I utter a long list of mental curses at anything handy, mostly the person in front of me.

            A muffled chuckle comes from the cloth heap.  Why my boy, didn't your matron teach you any matters at all?   The words echo in my head, and I realize the cloth pile is using telepathy to speak to me.  Great, I have a subconscious that hates me.

            Your subconscious is not capable of hate boy. Nor is it even real.  In saying your subconscious hates you, you are simply revealing that you hate yourself. 

            Of all the…"What are you, Buddha?"  I try to step around it, but it moves with me. Hyne, why won't you fucking move!? 

            The cloth pile tilts its head in question.  Why do ask if I am Buddha, if you know my name? And why are you so disrespectful towards me, boy? 

            "**Stop calling me boy**!"

            The clothed person laughs lightly.  Yes, that is what began all your problems, is it not?   It glides foreword into the room.  The man with the black wings takes my arm before I can run out the door and makes me followed the robed thing.  My wings brush against his and I shiver involuntarily in pleasure.  Fuck, as if I need more than one sensitive body part…I rub my forehead with my free hand.  This is a dream; I'm going to wake up soon.  I snort when I get a mental image of myself tapping my heels together and wildly screaming 'there's no place like home!'

            The robed figure removes its hood and turns to me.  My eyes widen slightly when I realize I'm staring at he most beautiful woman I've ever seen.  Her skin is bronze and she has a small purple tattoo on her forehead. Her hair is as a slightly lighter shade of black then the winged man and braided into hundreds of tiny plaits.  Like the man her eyes glow with some inner light.  I barely notice when the man next to me releases my elbow and crosses his arm over his chest.

            "Welcome to the Overworld boy.  I am Hyne." The woman raises her arm to her waist in some kind of greeting, and then lets it fall back to her waist.  

            I raise an eyebrow.  "The 'Overworld?'  I would've hoped my subconscious could get more original than this."

            Hyne tilts her head.  "I thought I had told you that there is no 'subconscious'."

            I sigh in annoyance.  "You did, point taken, it was very educational.  Listen, I plan on waking up anytime now, so could you get to the point please?"  

            The goddess smiles gently and motions me to her.  I come, hoping to all holy that this will get me out of here faster.  She gently places her gloved hand on my arm and looks up at me.  "Why are you so convinced you are asleep?"

            I look at her incredulously.  "Because I remember falling asleep."

            She shakes her head at me and leads me to a circular stone table.  The winged man walks to us and stands on the opposite side of the table.  That annoying smirk is still in place on his face, and I scowl at him. He sticks his tongue out at me…immature bastard.  Hyne waves an arm over the table, and the stone top turns clear silver.  She hums a little and then taps the surface.  "You never fell asleep.  You are dead, and would have been returned to your rightful place as one of my angels. However, there were some complications…"

            I feel the need to interrupt.  "Whoa, time out. I never fucking died okay? If I died I wouldn't be having this damned dream!"

            "Are you done?"  I snap my head up and bare my teeth at the black haired man, but say no more.

            Hyne frowns at both of us and continues her speech.  "Yes, as I was saying.  There were complications with your death.  You were destined to die in twenty-seven years.  But my idiotic descendant just had to go and to mess with time."  She turns back to the table and runs her hand over it.  Images come up on the surface, images of my life.  I stare at it passively, but I can't figure out how she's doing it.  "At birth you were destined to be one of my loyal angels.  Very few are selected for this honor.  When you died during Time Compression your spirit was not fit to enter the body of the angel."

            I shrug as I watch myself cutting into Squall's forehead.  "So now what?"

            "I wish to give you a second chance at life."

            I turn to her in surprise.  She holds up a finger to me.  "But first you must prove yourself worthy of the privilege."

            I must be insane; I'm starting to believe her.  "How would I do that?"

            She taps her bottom lip.  "You must become a guardian to one of the destined."

            I laugh breathily and raise an eyebrow at her.  "That's it? I have to become a 'guardian angel'?   That is the deed I must do to prove myself worthy?"

            Hyne nods.  "Aye, though it is not so easy as that.  Here is the man you are to protect."  She waves her hand once more over the surface.  I peer intently, and then snort in amusement when the person comes in view.  Hyne smiles at me, a knowing look in her eyes. "You see why it is not so easy.  Did you honestly think I would give you a free pass into my realm?"

            "Well no, but this is just, I mean, no, **no way**! No way in Hyne am I going to do this!  I can't do it, I won't!"

            She frowns at me.  "But you shall."

            I shake my head fiercely and point at the table.  "That's Squall! I'm not going to risk my life to save **Squall**!"

            She nods at me.  "You will, and if you need help Lokana will help you."  The winged man waves at my and grins.

            I sputter at her.  "But, I hate him too!"

            Hyne shrugs.  "That is not my problem.  Goodbye, boy, and good luck."

            Her golden eyes are the last things I see as I fall once more into a dark oblivion.


	3. A Walk in the Park

**Disclaimer**:  Not mine, nuff said.  (Translation: I'm too tired to type up a decent disclaimer =P)

**Warnings**: mostly language in this chapter (Seifer has such a foul mouth =P)

Dark Evrae Altana:  thanks for reviewing so far, glad you like it.  Maybe he will come back ^^ I spose you'll have to read the whole thing to find out!

FF9 Zidane:  Purple wings? Maybe I can give you an angel with those. The wings mean something, but you will have to read it all to find out what huh? Thanks for following it all so far.

Be warned, this will be a shorter chapter. I blame Sukunami and Redrum (just messing, you know I love you) 

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[Seifer]

            The branch comes from out of nowhere, slapping me across the face and most likely leaving a red line across my cheek.  I glare at the dark haired man in front of me while holding a hand to my face.  I manage to grit out, "You did that on purpose," without killing him.

            He grins at me. "I have no idea what you're talking about.  You know how easy it is for the branches to slip out of your hands."  He turns away and begins walking again briskly.  I shake my head at him and withhold several comments that would never be acknowledged.  Words cannot describe how much this man has annoyed me since we left Hyne barely hours ago.  I have to admit I'm slightly surprised he answered me; those were his first words since we left.

            I jog to catch up with him, hoping I can get some answers.  He turns his head to me and continues walking.  I grind my teeth and smile at him, trying to suppress my feelings of dislike.   "So, Lokana…"

            Lokana stops and turns to me, an exaggerated grimace on his face.  "Please never, ever call me that.  My name is Loki."  I raise an eyebrow at him, and he raises his hands in defeat.  "Fine, I guess we can take a break.  I'll tell you anything if you just don't call me by that idiotic name."

            "You honestly give in that easy?" I sit as far away from him as possible on the dead log.  

            He shrugs.  "I hate the name, I want a break, and you want information."

            Well, he's not as stupid as I gave him credit for.  I figure I might as well get information while he's in a talking mood, but strangely I pull up a blank.  "So, uh, why are we taking the forest route?" It's true.  After we left Hyne we ended up in this seemingly endless gathering of trees.  

            He shrugs at me.  "Do you suggest another way?"

            I look at the sky for inspiration.  "Those large annoying things sticking out of my shoulder blades **are** wings right?"

            I can see the exact moment my comment dawns on him.  "Oh yeah.." He says rather brilliantly.  "Wish you had reminded me earlier, we're almost there now.  I would have thought to fly earlier but you know, when you're up there with Hyne flying isn't really required and I guess I just got used got the wings weight."  

            Damn. He has a point.  I don't bother asking our destination.  I'm just assuming Balamb Garden, where else would Squall be?  Hyne, why Hyne have to choose him?  Oh fuck, that makes no sense.  I shake my head to clear my thoughts and frown at Loki, who is smiling into space and bobbing his head to an invisible beat.  I snap my fingers in front of his face and he turns his head to me, still bopping.  "Would you stop that!?" He stops and smirks at me again in that familiar smirk…. wait a minute!  I look closer.  I know where I've seen that smirk…  "Hey."  

            He snorts.  "Hey is for horses."

            Fuck, how can he be so childish?  Never mind.  "Why exactly did Hyne send you with me?"

            Loki purses his lips and shrugs.  "Because I've always been with you."

            Mhm, I thought as much.  "You were my angel then?"  He nods, and I frown. "I never saw you."

            Loki begins picking bark off the log and shrugs again.  "You weren't supposed to.  The whole point is the angel is just there, it's frowned upon for the angel and the protected to become close."  He closes his eyes, and then sighs.  "We should walk again. We only have another mile or so to go."

            He stands, wipes his butt off, checks his wings, and leaves me sitting there.  I jump up to chase him, muttering more loud curses as my wings get stuck on branches and twigs. The stupid things are so sensitive to everything.  I finally catch up to him, a scowl on my face, and he smirks.  I narrow my eyes at him.  "Why did you have to go and steal my damned smirk?"  

            Loki shrugs. "I liked it."

            He liked it? Whatever.  "I want it back."

            Loki flashes me an amused grin.  "And how do you propose I 'give it back'?"

            I run a hand through my hair.  "I dunno, but just stop using it!"      Oh, that was intelligent.

            The black winged man shakes his head at me with a half smile.  "I guess I can try to hold it back.   Oh, hold on, we're here."  

            Oh fucking joy. I glare out through the thinning trees out the expected Garden.  Loki grabs my shoulders and makes me face him, our wings forming a protective shell around us.  "I need to explain my role in all this."

            I roll my eyes.  "Dazzle me." 

            The angel shrugs.  "Okay, I will."  I feel the need to slap my forehead, and he draws in a deep breath and lowers his voice as if telling me a secret.  "My basic role in your whole deal is the mediator.  I watch you, determine how you're doing with this…Squall fellow, and report you back to Hyne.  If the reports are good, you get a second chance at life."  

            I wait a minute, and then prompt him.  "And if I'm bad…?"

            He nods.  "And if you're bad you get sent back to the Overworld, where you remain as Hyne's angel until the second coming."

            I out my hand on my hip.  "That's it?"  I guess I was expecting an eternity full of fire or brimstone. I briefly consider going back to Hyne now rather than save Squall's butt.

            Loki tilts his head.  "Yeah, pretty much."  He releases my shoulder from his grip and pats it.  "Have fun, now go."  He stands back and crosses his arms over his chest.  I get the feeling I'm going to be seeing that stance a lot.  With a sigh I turn towards the Garden.  I square my shoulders and begin the last stretch of the walk towards my destiny.  I, Seifer Almasy, have never backed out of anything, and I'm not going to let Squall stand in the way of that.


	4. Funeral

**Disclaimer**: Okay, one more time.  FF8. Belongs. To. Squaresoft.  Happy? Good, because I'm not, in fact, I think I'll cry.  (Sobs) I don't own anything…

**Warnings**: Just some language, mild Rinoa bashing, and another case of me not having any clue where I want the story to go and making it all up as I go along ^^

And another thing…why did you guys have to look so much into the wings? Now I have to find a really good meaning =P don't worry, I love you all, no biggie ^^

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[Seifer]

            It feels weird to be walking down the halls of Balamb Garden again in peace, considering the last time I was intent on blowing everything up.  Since no one can see me I decide to take my time and look around the old stomping grounds.  Wandering around without really knowing where to go I decide to head for the Quad, mainly to see how well they fixed up my mistake. The wings keep bouncing as I walk, throwing me slightly off balance. I wonder if Hyne would really care if I just took a gunblade to them and cut them off? I'll have to look into that.  If only Loki hadn't taken off on me. That idiot, I can't believe Hyne made him my guardian angel. No wonder my life was so screwed up, because **somebody** wasn't doing his job.

            I turn down the entry walkway and glance into the water pools over the side.  It always bothered me why the builders bothered to put them in.  In all the time I had been here, I had never seen anyone use it for anything.  It didn't even look good.  With a small laugh I remember the time Zell and I had bought a hundred gil worth of live fish and dumped them into the water. Unfortunately there had been chlorine in the water; the poor fish never had a chance.  Looking back, I think that's where my relationship with the Chicken went wrong. Hmm, look at what he missed.

            I walk down the stairs to the Quad nonchalantly, and then stop dead in my tracks.   The walls and section of the floor have only been half fixed, and there is nobody there.  I walk over to the large hole in the floor and look down at the ground far below.  I don't get it.  You would think that since the Garden officials are so anal about how the place looks it would have been fixed long ago.  Realization suddenly hits me like a slap in the face. I have absolutely no idea how long I've been dead, and I can't exactly ask anyone.  

            I quickly turn around and run out of the quad, back into the main hallway.  There is very few people wandering aimlessly around, another thing I never understood.  You would think that since this is a military run school people would have some sort of destination, and don't even get me started on that damned kid who runs a gazillion laps a day.  I decide to follow a group of girls who, if I remember correctly, were always willing to share the latest gossip if you tagged after them.

            "Are you going today?" One of the girls asked her friends.

            One of the other girls' answers, "I don't know, he was always such a jerk."

            Girl number one shrugged.  "So? He was hot."  The friend that had yet to speak covered her mouth and giggled.

            I breathe out impatiently.  You would think they would be a little more informati…

            "Hey, how do you pronounce this guys name anyway?"  Girl number two waves a piece of paper in the air.  "I've heard it pronounced so many ways, is it like 'Cypher'?"

            The silent friend frowns.  "I always pronounced it 'Sea-fur'.  Sounds better, don't you think?"

            The other two shrug, and the second friend drops the paper in the trash next to her.  "I didn't know him, I don't think I'll go…"

            I stare after them for a second before running to the garbage can and tearing the paper out.  I scan it quickly.

Seifer Almasy

(Valued student and Sorceress Knight)

Will be laid to rest today in a simple ceremony.

Only well wishers welcome

Come to outer training area at precisely 16:00 hours

Sincerely, Cid Kramer

            A dozen questions run through my head.  Where did they find my body?  Why am I special enough to have a solitary burial? What was so hard about my name? Fuck, this is too much to deal with, might as well go and pay my last respects to…myself. That sounds too weird, but there it is.  I find a passing student and walk next to them, my headed tilted at an angle so I can read his watch. Thank Hyne no one can see me; I imagine I look like a total idiot.  His watch reads 15:37. Great, if I run I can make it.  With a mock salute to the bouncy man I set myself towards the exit and run.  And, of course, my wings smack my butt on the way out.

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            The outer training ground is incredibly easy to find. It was my favorite spot to be, and this is where Squall and I exchanged scars. It was winter then and the ground was frozen and bare, but now the first beginnings of grass can be seen.  For some reason, nobody is here yet, but the casket is. I decide to see how badly they messed up my body.  The walk is a short one, and I'm somewhat put off by the fact that no one is here to see me. Here I am all shirtless… Hmph. What a waste.  

            The casket is on a stand about four feet above the ground, and a casket skirt hides the bottom of the stand so as to not distract from my godliness. They dressed me in the clothes I always wore; I even have my trench coat on.  Somebody took the time to slick my hair back just the way I liked it and my boots are polished to the point of looking new.  Not bad. Even though I'm a dead rigor mortis driven corpse I'm the hottest thing around. I allow myself a small smirk.  Somehow I would have thought it would be a tiny bit scarier to be looking down at my own body, guess I've come along way from what I was before the war.  

            I start slightly as I hear voices coming up the hill behind me, and on reflex duck under the caskets skirt.  I slap myself in the head, cursing myself to all Hyne.  Now I'm stuck in this cramped little space for the next couple of hours.  Damn. Maybe I can sneak out while the visitors are busy discussing my great looks and legend-worthy life.  I pull the fabric aside s little so I can see what's happening, promising myself I'll kick my own butt later.  

            The first person I see is Quistis, followed by Irvine and Selphie.  Zell follows behind them, wearing his old dejected 'I didn't get a hot dog' look.  Mhm, guess he really cared. Or they actually were out of hot dogs. I guess the second is more likely.  A few more people trudge up behind them, none really worth mentioning.  As they show up they file silently into chairs, some of them obviously not even wanting to be there.  A few of them have the audacity to check their watches every few minutes, some look off into space, but no one speaks.  

            God, you would think we would start already; my butt's falling asleep. I wiggle around trying to find a more comfortable position and almost miss the VIP entrance.  I wouldn't have seen them if I hadn't whacked my wing on the stands support and arched my head in pain. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed a person shaped blur, and when I turned to see it better I discovered it was a three person shaped blur.  Squall, Rinoa, and Cid were walking towards us. I wonder briefly what the hell took them so long, but then I realize that instead of finding any place to sit they advance to the podium.  Cid takes his place behind the microphone thing and taps on it to make sure it works. I wince at the loud muffled booming noise and glare at the man.  Obviously it's on, doesn't he see the little red power light?  Squall whispers something to Rinoa and turns to take a seat behind Cid.  She pouts at him, and then turns to find another seat. Awe, poor little princess has to sit with the common folk.  I roll me eyes. I dated her for the royal looks, but dropped her for that damned royal attitude.  Maybe I'm supposed to save Squall from her?  If that were the case I'd gladly drop her off a cliff somewhere.

            I smile at the lovely vision until I'm brought back to reality by Cid ahem-ing into the microphone.  Great, I just love listening to the old fart talk about nothing whatsoever.  He waves around at everyone.  "I would like to think you all for coming today!"  He drops his hand and smiles brightly, leaning forward against the podium.  "It's nice to see Cadet Almasy had so many good friends."  Someone in the crowd muffles a laugh, and I glare in his general direction.  Cid goes on regardless. Somehow I doubt he even noticed.  "Aside from assigning various punishments for that lively young mans various endeavors, I never fully got to know Cadet Almasy."  Okay, would you **stop** calling me that?  "Taking that into consideration I asked one of our most famed SeeD's to speak on behalf of Cadet Almasy.  May I present to you, Squall Leonhart."

            Awe, how sweet.  That little tight ass decided to speak on my behalf. Wonder if he's going for sainthood or something.  Thankfully he doesn't tap on the microphone. Instead his 'efficient SeeD' mode kicks in and he begins to talk in his slow thoughtful voice.  "We all …" He stops and swallows.  "We all knew Seifer Almasy…" He sighs and looks away. "I can't do this."  He crumples up the speech and throws it to the side.  He looks back over the crowd, some who look duly confused.  "Rinoa wrote that speech, and I can't read it.  None of it is true, and I'm sure it would only give that bastard more material to bitch about.  Seifer and I never really cared for each other aside from he was the best damned sparring partner I ever had."  I smirk at him and mutter under my breath, "thanks Leonhart, you just made my day."  Obviously he ignores me and continues. Pointing to his scarred forehead he states, "Only a man that fights that incredibly dirty could have gotten under me and scarred me for life, but he did it too.  And when I scarred him back he counted it as a well-worn mark of honor. I know some of you thought he didn't like it, but if he hated it why didn't he cure himself?  Seifer had more honor than any man I ever knew, and he always strove to be the best he could be.  The reason he's dead is because of his honor. He only joined Ultimecia because she called him a boy, and he had to uphold his honor to her."  He looks around at the people, some who at least have the decency to look shocked.  I smile widely; this has got to be the best funeral ever.  Squall never could do things by the book.  Cid stood and tried to get the microphone from Squall, but of course that did no good.  "Seifer Almasy was an asshole, okay?  Very few of you here cared about him, so why are you here?"  He looks at Quistis.  "You always hated the man, even when we were kids.  Are you trying to make it up to him? Well do it now, while you still have the chance."  He looks at the casket, and despite the extremely unexpected burst of words he seems to be almost bored. He gives my body a SeeD salute, and then starts to leave.  

            Rinoa starts to go after him, but Zell grabs her around the waist and forces her to sit. That little blond always was a smart one, although in this case he should have let her go.  Squall just might have killed her.  Quistis stands, looking quite angry, and yells after Squall.  "You never gave a damn about him either! What makes you so special then?  He **hated** you!"  I stare at her in surprise. She's not very smart for an instructor.  I know I practically said I did hate him to Hyne, but I never really disliked him after the fact that he was simply a rival, and a very worthy one at that.  

            Squall doesn't even pause- he just keeps walking.  As he disappears over the hill a sharp pain tears at me, and I feel like I'm about to cry.  I swipe at my eyes but it doesn't go away.  I look at my hand and whisper, "What the fuck?"  As if in answer to my question there is a small ding and a little envelope falls into my lap.  I raise an eyebrow at the cliché method, but nevertheless I open the envelope.

            Hello Seifer, 

                        I just though I would say that your 'what the fuck' equals whatever Squall feels, you feel. In the beginning you will only feel extreme emotions, but eventually you will share everything, including such simplistic emotions as happiness or even the pain of a stubbed toe.  

                        Sincerely, Loki

            (PS: I suggest you go after him, the farther apart you are the more it hurts.  Payback is a bitch)

            I glare at the little happy face he included on the bottom of the letter and then shove the whole thing in my pocket.  I climb out from under the casket, ignoring the 'whoa, did you see that thing move?' comment, and start running.  Loki was right, the sharp pain begins to fade, but the feeling of tears is still there.  Soon Squall is just a hundred yards or so ahead of me and I run slightly faster.  When I am within ninety or so feet the feeling completely disappears and I slow down to a walk.  

            The wings won't stop bouncing, so I wrap them around myself and grasp the edges with the opposite hands.  I sigh happily and look up to continue my progress, only to find myself looking at the business end of a fist.  The hard punch knocks me to the ground, and the wings fly up to cover my head.  I once again, for what seems to be the twentieth time that day, utter a long string of colorful curses at the damned brunette.  I punch the wings off of me and look up at the mans face.  He seems to be in total shock, and I'm kind of put off. If he can't see me, why would he punch air that hard?  He blinks at me.  "Seifer?"

'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'

**BS**: Woo, the first chapter in over a month, go me ^^ okay, I know this chapter made no sense, but it should all come together next chapter, whenever that is. Please bear with? And thanks for reading ^^ By the way, did you notice the longer-ness of this chapter? I'm so proud of myself =P


	5. So, you're an angel?

Well hello everyone. Guess what? I'm Alive! bet you didn't know that, considering i haven't updated this fic forever. For those of you who care about me updating, you can just thank Wind Chime Bells for reminding me that this fic was alive and desperately wants to be killed ^_^; Also, since i've got my new computer all of my format seems to keep screwing up when i post, so if this looks funky, bear in mind i'll fix it later ^_^ (and if it's not funky, you can point and laugh at my very relieved self :D)  
  
Disclaimer: (wow, haven't written one of these in a while...) Okay, nothing is mine, exept for the plot! haha! of this, i can assure you, i am VERY proud ;) FF8 belongs to Squaresoft, or Square Enix..or whatever.  
  
Warnings: I have absolutely no plans for this chapter, so i really don't know about warnings. i'll just assume language, and bad writing ^_^. plus, i forget kinda what was happening in the story, so i'll spend some time figuring aout just what the heck i'm doing ^_^; Oh, right. this chapter is starting with Squall's POV during the middle of his speech. Sure and it's an odd place to begin, but what the heck ya know? you only live once ^^   
  
'`'`'`''`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'  
  
[Squall]  
  
I don't know why i could't just stick with protocol and read Rinoa's prewritten speech, but i really don't think i would have felt comfortable stating the fact that 'he was many things, a 'big meanie' being the least of them'. After beginning my spur of the moment oratory i knew that it was a bad idea to attend the funeral, and it didn't help to look around and see that nobody there really gave a damn about Seifer aside from myself. Maybe some of the people had known him at some point, but i think i'm the only person who actually feels remorse for the bastard. I look at everyone in the crowd and sigh to myself, deciding to tell them just what i thought of it all. "Seifer Almasy was an asshole, okay?" I almost enjoy the shock on their faces, and continue. "Very few of you here cared about him, so why are you here?" I look at Quistis in particular. "You always hated the man, even when we were kids. Are you trying to make it up to him? Well do it now, while you still have the chance." I ignore the expected rise of words, and give Seifer's body my best SeeD salute. It's the least i can do for him.  
  
Suddenly i just want to be out of the area, to be out of the view of all of these people. I want to be in my room alone with my thoughts, maybe even to mourn for the stupid blonde somewhat. I turn to leave the stage and see Rinoa come after me out of the corner of my eye. I'm not carrying Lionheart, but i still wish she would come close enough that i could reach her with my bare hands. For some reason i feel the urge to hit something. Hard. Fortunately for her Zell grabs her and pulls her back into safety, and so i continue to leave. Not unexpectedly i hear Quistis's voice from behind me. "You never gave a damn about him either! What makes you so special then? He hated you!" I keep walking, not giving her the satisfaction of making me angry. I refuse to feel anything about the matter. Unfortunately my heart refuses to listen to my head, and i can feel myself crying on the inside. Whoever said I was an 'Ice Prince' was full of shit. I may have an icy exterior, but i'm capable of plenty emotions. Too bad nobody but Seifer ever cared to find that out about me.   
  
I'm way out of sight of the funeral site and almost to the Garden when I hear somebody following me quite noisily. I wasn't kidding when i said i wanted to be alone, and for one brief moment I hate the person behind me, because they have decided to ruin my peace. I turn around to face the intruder and am somwhat surprised, although not very fazed, to find whoever it is wrapped in a dark red blanket. Red. How fitting. I am reminded of a bull, and suddenly the idea of punching this person appeals to me greatly. Without really thinking of the consequences, I aim for where the persons face should be and swing as hard as i can. The tall man goes down easily due to the force of the blow and the fact that the blanket got tangled in his legs. I'm about to turn and leave again when the man punches the blanket off of him, and I see something I thought would never see again. I look down at him, somewhat stunned, and blink. "Seifer?"  
  
The blond man stands unsteadily and glares down at me. For the first time it occurs to me that the red things are wings, not a blanket. I decide quickly that I'm hallucinating, something I've never done before. I stare back up at him as he raises a hand to his face and wipes away a trail of blood from his nostril with his knuckle. He looks at the red smear and then glares at me rather dangerously. "Leonheart," he growls,"If i wasn't fucking certain that there is some damned restriction ordained by some fucking Hyne and her stupid fucking angels that would result in me having to spend the rest of eternity with a certain black haired idiot, then i would definitely send you on a permanent visit to the hospital, so don't fucking punch a defenseless man ever again, got it?"  
  
No, i don't really get it. "Yes."  
  
He scowls at his bloody finger again and then wipes it off on his pants. "Damn good thing. Now, would you mind taking me back to the Garden? And I really don't want an answer from you that vaguely resembles a 'no'."   
  
Great, i never knew that hallucinations could be this real. I blink at him again before doing an about face and heading for the Garden. Seifer, if it really is him, sighs and follows me. I wonder how long these things last? hopefully he'll disappear soon..  
  
+++++++++++++++++  
  
I punch in the code to my dorm, the blond still behind me. The door opens with a slight buzzing sound, and closes after us with a silent click. Seifer, if that's who he is, looks around briefly before flopping onto one of the two beds. Originally there was one, but after Rinoa started sleeping in here I ordered a second one installed so that I could leave her and have my own space after she fell asleep. She is very lovely, but she also knows how to hog a bed, and I'm just not up for the challenge yet. I lay on the second bed and roll over onto my side. Maybe if I can go to sleep he'll disappear and I can pretend I have my sanity back. The only problem with that is that the blond man doesn't seem to be tired. "So," he begins, "I suppose you're wondering why I'm here."  
  
I don't bother answering the man and curl tighter into myself, trying to ignore him. He stands up and flops down beside me, a wing accidentally smacking my head. I frown in annoyance but don't move. He snorts. "Ah ah, Squally boy, no sleepy time for you yet. Now get up. You owe me a decent conversation in return for the black eye you probably gave me, which, for your information, I will personally make sure goes on your permanent record." Why won't he go away? I scowl at the wall I'm facing and continue to ignore the annoying man, that is, until he resorts to cheating in the form of poking me in the side....hard. I turn over onto my back and glare up at him, and he simply smirks back at me. "Well, now that I have your attention, let's have a chat."  
  
I shrug as best i can while flat on my back. He smirks. "I'm so glad you agreed. Okay, so here's the basic facts, and if you even think about laughing I will personally gut you, okay? Good. So basically, Hyne says that I'm your Guardian Angel (yes, i said 'Angel', you can shut the hell up now). But Loki said that the destined weren't supposed to be able to see their angels (not a word) but you can obviously see and feel me." Here he pauses to glare at me, as if daring me to 1)laugh my ass off or 2)dare to punch him again. I'm a bit too confused to do either of the two. I've heard of Hyne, but isn't he a legend? And who the hell is 'Loki'? Before i can ask, Seifer continues. "I'm not very happy with you right now, quite obviously. If you had never been born, or if you had just died like a good little SeeD, i would have had an easy job of it. However I'm stuck looking after your ass with a complete idiot looking after my ass, and Hyne knows who the hell is looking after his ass. On top of that, I found out that people can't even pronounce my name!"  
  
I frown at him. What's so hard about pronouncing 'Seifer'? He bangs his right fist into his open left palm. "Exactly! That's what i said..." he looks at me funny. "You never said that out loud, did you?"  
  
I shake my head at him, and he growls and stands up quickly. He looks toward the ceiling and shouts out angrily, "Loki! Hyne dammit, Loki! Get your ass down here, now!"  
  
I stand and walk behind him. "Seifer, who's Loki?" The blond ignores me and keeps shouting at the ceiling. I try again. "Seifer? Seifer?!" He still doesn't seem to hear me. I reach out to touch his shoulder in an attempt to get his attention just as he half turns to yell at another part of the ceiling. Instead of hitting his shoulder i manage to brush his wing with my fingertips. He shivers and immediately goes still, before turning to look at me with guarded eyes. He seems about to say something, but then suddenly whirls around and makes the motions of grabbing someone by the collar and holding them up against the wall, and proceeds to shout where a face would normally be. For a moment I'm glad that at least I'm not the one crazy enough to berate a defensless wall, but that changes as I listen to his side of the conversation.  
  
"Yes you, you stupid piece of shit! ... Well fucking duh I'm a 'little' upset! ... What? What does that have to do with anything? You, I, You, Never mind! I'm not even going to dignify that with a response! Oh, don't you shrug your shoulders at me you son of a bitch, you've got some questions to answer! ... Yes, I'm well aware of the fact that you could report this to your precious Hyne, and NO, i don't really give a fuck. Now, i thought you said Squall wouldn't be able to see me." He listens to the response and growls. "What the hell do you mean, 'special case'? ... Mixed blood? Are you insane? ... Fine, I'll take it back, I'm sorry, you bastard." He drops the seemingly invisible man and turns back to me. Jerking a thumb towards the wall he says , "Leonheart, that's Loki, the biggest pain in the ass I've ever met."   
  
I blink, somewhat confused by the whole encounter, and shrug. "I don't see anything."  
  
"Well," he says, "at least the rule applies to somebody," and then stalks towards the bed and drops onto it so that he's lying on his stomach, the brilliant wings extending over the sides and dragging the floor.   
  
I go to stand over him. "What did he say?"  
  
Seifer huffs. "Loki informed me that 'technically' he never said that you wouldn't be able to see me, just that it was frowned upon for the angel and the protected to become close. He also said that the reason you can see me is because you have some of my 'personal blood' in you. He says that it was from when we exchanged scars. Apparently when I went to pick you up to haul your ass back to the infirmary a drop of blood from my wound fell into yours and mixed with your blood, hence you can 'magically' see me."   
  
Well, it makes sense to me, to a certain degree. "So you're an angel. What's with the wings?"  
  
Seifer winces and his wings shudder sligtly. "Yeah, i'm a fucking angel, go figure. I don't know much about the wings, I just assume they're some sort of status marker for Hyne's Angels. Loki and I have different color wings (his are black), and unfortunately he's of a higher status than me, so it would make sense i guess."  
  
I consider asking what the Hyne's Angel are, when we are suddenly interrupted by the mechanical whiring and telltale buzz of the door being opened. I slip into defensive mode, and relax only very slightly when i see that my visitor is Rinoa. She runs up to me and throws her arms around me, apparently not noticing my stiff posture or lack of participation in the hug. She reaches up and grazes my cheek with her lips before stepping back and smiling softly at me.  
  
"Oh Squally, i thought you would be up here. You upset everyone when you left like that!"  
  
I grunt, and scowl at Seifer's amused glance. I turn from both of them, and enter the small bathroom, one of the perks of being 'commander'. Rinoa follows me into the small room, and thankfully Seifer stays back. I pointedly ignore her, and begin the process of brushing my teeth. She wraps her arms around me and looks at the two of us in the mirror, her looking lovely with her royal features, and me looking idiotic with a toothbrush dangling from my mouth. She frowns at the reflection. "Why didn't you read my speech Squally? I worked so hard on it, it was perfect! You ruined it for me..."  
  
I spit into the sink and wipe my mouth on a handtowel. "Sorry Rinoa, but it was just too perfect. I don't think i would have done your beautiful words true justice in my horrible voice." Yeah, like hell i'm going to tell her the truth.  
  
She looks horrified. "Oh Squally! How can you say that?" For a moment i think she's caught my bluff, but then she continues. "You have a beautiful voice!"  
  
I force a smile in her direction and leave the bathroom, purposefully avoiding the laughing blond who is still lying there, only underneath the covers with the blankets folded halfway down due to his wings. Rinoa undresses hurriedly and climbs into bed, a thankful sign that I won't have to 'sleep' with her tonight. She drops off into sleep quickly, and with a prayer to all holy I walk to the closet, still not looking at Seifer. As I get my night clothes on he raises up on one elbow and smirks at me. "Oh Squally, you have a beautiful voice," he mimics in a high falsetto. I resist the urge to punch him, only because i don't want Rinoa waking up and thinking I'm insane. The blond man bats his eyelashes at me and smiles pretty. I scowl at him, and motion for him to get out of the bed. He shakes his head like a child. "Uh uh Leonheart, I was here first. You get your own damned bed."  
  
I walk into the small space between the beds and glare down at him. "Move."  
  
He smirks back at me. "Sorry Leonheart, no can do. I'm already comfy in this bed. However, seeing as to how it's 'your' bed, I'd be willing to share." He waggles his eyebrows at me. I push my hand to my forehead. I can either sleep in a bed with my worst rival, or wih my girlfriend. I sigh and drop my hand, frowning at Seifer. "Whatever. Just move over already."  
  
He laughs, a deep rumbling sound, but lifts up a wing so that i can join him. I climb into bed, making sure to stay as far away from him as possible. Obviously i can't pull the blankets up due to his wings, and i vaguely wonder how i'm going to keep from freezing. The problem is solved when Seifer drapes a heated wing over me with a mumbled "don't move too much, they're sensitive." I guess that would explain his earlier reaction then... Seifer yawns and then mutters a drowsy "g'night Squall."  
  
I return the favour, and soon fall asleep under the comforting warmth  
  
'`'`'`''`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'  
  
Random notes from BS, which do not necessarily have to be BS: Whee, another chapter kil..finished :D well i hope this helps to explain why Squall can see Seifer, and hey! i even made up an excuse about the wings to fall back on ^_^ I know that not much happened here, and it was a relatively boring chapter given the amount of time being away, so i'm going to try and work on that in coming chapters. i think that from now on i'm going to mostly be working with Seifer's POV, he's way more fun than the dutiful Squall (but of course i never said that). Anyways, theres the chapter, and now i think i'll go and mutilate the second chapter of 'Amnesie'. No idea when i'll be gettnig back to The Prison Song, but of course i'll finish it eventually  
  
Much insane thanks to Star Shadow and Dark Stratos, Dark Evrae (long time no see! hey!), SxS Addicted fan (hey...i have a heart, somewhere.. :'( lol ^_^), Sillie, Faery-of-Fiction(glad you like it, and i hope i'm answering some of your questions. thanks by the way, they're helping me think of plots ^_^), Redrum (of course, but i love you anyways =P), And of course my girl, Wind Chime Bells ^_^ (whom we can all thank for this cra...interesting chapter :D) for reviewing chapter 4! it's very much appreciated ^_^ laters! 


	6. Loki's Little Project

Whew, I'm on a roll for this story ^^ and, for those of you who cringed last time, I'm back to Seifer's POV :D (as everyone breathes a sigh of relief) Also, I know how to end this story, what the heck is going on, why certain things are, and I couldn't be happier! All I have to do now is figure out a spiffy excuse for the wings and I'm all set :D  
  
Disclaimer: It all belongs to Squaresoft. Now I just have to figure out what 'it' is ;) Warnings: Language, Loki bashing (done by Seifer), general confusion, and of course big plot holes =P  
  
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[Seifer]  
  
I wake up feeling the intense urge to sneeze, which is not a good thing to wake up to in any circumstances, but is especially not a good thing when the sneeze is caused by a certain winged nemesis tickling your nose with a big fluffy feather. I open my eyes and glare at him, my vision still watery from the sneeze. "Loki, what the fuck are you doing here this early?"  
  
The tall angel grins at me. "It's not early, it's ten after six."  
  
I blink hard to clear my eyes. "I didn't ask what time it was, you prick, I asked what you were doing here."  
  
He shrugs and leans back, twirling the feather between his fingers. "Just a basic check up. So, how was he?"  
  
God, it's too early for this. "How was who?"  
  
Loki smirks. "Squall, you idiot. Or were you that out of it?"  
  
"Out of what? How would I know how Squall was? And stop twirling that damn feather!"  
  
He stops playing with the feather and leans forward to bop me on the nose with it. "I'm talking about the sex. You do know that it is frowned upon to get close to the protected, don't you?"  
  
Will. Not. Kill. Him. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I haven't had sex in months, not since the Ultimecia incident, and I sure as hell wouldn't be having sex with my rival. Now leave me the hell alone!"  
  
He raises an eyebrow. "So, there was no sex?" I shake my head, somewhat, no, /b frustrated. He shrugs apologetically. "My bad then, but you can't really blame me, given your position and all." He looks pointedly in the direction of my chest.  
  
I follow his view and cover my eyes, groaning. Somehow, during the night, Squall and I had managed to twist around so that I was lying on my back with my wings folded over the two of us. Squall's upper half was sprawled across my chest, his arm around my side, and his legs were intertwined with mine. And yes, I am just noticing this. I mumble a distinct oath to anything even related to Hyne and turn to look at Loki, who is grinning a bit too widely for my likings. "Whatever, just give me the update."  
  
He wags a finger at me. "Sorry, no can do. Not yet anyways."  
  
I raise an eyebrow and remind myself that there is most definitely a law against killing Hyne's Angels. "What, do I have to stand on one leg and recite the alphabet backwards before you'll give it to me?"  
  
Loki looks vaguely amused as he shakes his head. "Nope, nothing like that. I just found a new project!"  
  
He found a new project? This guy is fucking nuts. I wonder if I can put in a transfer for a new guardian? I scowl at him. "Good for you, now go away and leave me the hell alone. I have enough problems as it is without you adding to them."  
  
He shakes his head. "Nuh uh. First off, no, you can't change guardians. Believe me, I know because I've already tried." He whistles vaguely and stares off into space. "Anyways, I can't leave you alone, because you're my project!"  
  
I close my eyes tightly, and them open them again. Loki had better like Squall a lot, because the brunette's weight on my body is the only thing keeping me from jumping him and ripping off an important body part. "What exactly is this..project?"  
  
He starts twirling the feather again with a professional smile on his face. Yes, a professional smile. Those are just the words that come to mind, okay? Sue me. Loki takes a breath. "So, technically, the guardian and the destined aren't supposed to get close, right?" I nod wearily. I fucking know this already. He continues. "That's basically to protect the guardian from heart break if he fails his role or has to be reborn somewhere else, see? But seeing as to how the plans are for you to be reborn here, it shouldn't be a problem."  
  
I blink. "I still don't see your point, and what do you mean, I'm 'being reborn here'?  
  
He waves the hand with the feather around. "My point is that you two are the perfect opportunity for breaking the rule! Some of us angels have been trying to push Hyne into allowing the destined and the guardian to become closer to each other, as in even being able to see each other, among other things, and as of yet, haven't made any progress. If I can get you two together, then she'll have to change her mind!"  
  
I roll my eyes. "So what, you want me and Leonhart to become best buddies? Not likely, and what do you mean, 'being reborn here'?"  
  
Loki grins the widest grin I've ever seen. "I wouldn't call it 'best buddies' so much as 'lovers'...."  
  
At that, I forget Squall and sit up quickly. "What the /b? Are you fucking insane? In case you forgot, he's my fucking rival! The only reason I'm here now is to get back my damn body! Like hell I'm going to fuck him without any personal gain on my part..no fucking way."  
  
Loki raises his eyebrow, apparently unaffected by my outburst. "Well, no offense and all, but you two didn't exactly look like rivals from my point of view. Think about it, okay?" He waggles his fingers at me. "Laters!"  
  
"What? /b!" The bastard disappears. I feel like punching a wall, or at least killing Loki. Whichever comes first.  
  
"Loki again?" The unexpected groggy voice causes me to slip into a defensive stance, but I drop it when I see it's only Squall talking to me from the floor where I had knocked him when I sat up.  
  
I scowl. "Yeah. Fucking bastard didn't even tell me the fucking agenda, or what he meant by I was going to be reborn here." I decide not to tell Squall of Loki's 'project', which will come to pass only over Loki's dead body.  
  
He stares at me uncomprehendingly. I shake my head. "Never mind."  
  
Squall shrugs at me and stands up. He straightens out his nightclothes and stretches, then turns to the clock and starts. "It's six-thirty!"  
  
I stand and stretch. Rinoa snorts and turns over in her sleep. I stare at her for a moment before deeming her worthy of the feat of sleeping through anything and turn back to Squall. "So? I'm going to take a walk, you can go back to sleep if you want."  
  
The brunette begins to frantically struggle out of his bedclothes while beginning the attempt to brush his teeth at the same time. Eventually he manages the former and rushes to get his day clothes ready, butt naked. He gets his socks on and then runs into the bathroom to rinse his mouth. He rushes back out and throws the rest of his clothes on, haphazardly managing to buckle all of his belts in the correct order.  
  
"I can't go back to sleep, I'm meeting Selphie and Irvine for breakfast at seven!"  
  
I groan and flop back onto the bed, folding my wings over myself. "Messenger girl and the cowboy? You need to get a life Leonhart, seriously. And by the way, I still demand a rematch for our last sparring match. It was a draw, and the war kind of got in our way. Unless you're too chicken."  
  
He stops and stares at me. "You're thinking of that /b? ...Whatever." He starts for the door.  
  
I stand and stretch my wings, then follow after him. He activates the code that opens the door and starts walking in the direction of the cafeteria. The halls are unsurprisingly quiet and deserted; all the normal people are most likely still in bed. Part of me wishes I was with them, but then again a much, much larger part of me prefers to annoy Squall like there's no tomorrow... just my nature, I guess. It's not until we've passed the training center that Squall decides to talk to me. "Where are you going?" It sounds like he's asking more out of duty than of curiosity.  
  
I wink at him. "I'm going with you. I figure it's time I met your cronies without having a gun shoved in my face."  
  
He looks less than amused. "No, you're not."  
  
I flash a big smile in his direction. "Yes, I am."  
  
He stops and turns to me. "No, you are not."  
  
I stare down at him. "Yes, I assure you that I am."  
  
Squall scowls at me. "Damn it Seifer, you are not going with me."  
  
I mock scowl right back at him. "Damn it Squall, I am. Now, either we can get going and you won't be late, or we can stand here and dicker around for a while until somebody comes along and catches you talking to yourself. Your call." I smirk at him, and he turns from me in as angry a manner as I've seen yet from him.  
  
"Whatever."  
  
I laugh and catch up to him. "Ah Squally, I'm so touched! My very-own- personal-trademarked, stamped-by-Squall 'whatever'. You really shouldn't have. I tell you, I'm not worthy!"  
  
He scowls and mutters something that sounds suspiciously like 'asshole' while turning into the walkway that leads to the cafeteria. I walk behind him, pleased with my victory. Both of us are quiet, Squall probably preoccupied with being incredibly annoyed with me, and myself preoccupied thinking up ways to ruin a perfectly boring breakfast. We arrive in the large room just as I'm deciding against turning on the sprinklers, and I am forced to almost run after the pissed brunette as he stalks off to find a table.  
  
He slides into the chair, folds his arms over the part of the table in front of him, and stares at the crossed limbs passively. If I didn't know better I would assume he had some type of painful gassy stomach problem because of the hunched position, but due to my highly enlightened skills, I know it's just Squall blocking out the world.  
  
I drop into the seat next to him and stretch my legs out underneath the table. One highlight to being one of these damned Angel things is that the need to pull out a chair is long gone. I just simply have to step through the table and sit my ass down. A quick glance around the room tells me all I need to know about the place: it's exactly the same as it's been for the past ten or so years.  
  
Little teeny weeny eating area that one would assume is much too small for serving a whole Garden full of SeeD's, the little old cafeteria ladies who never seem to move anywhere and still get everything done, and of course those annoying Trepies. I still fail to see how Quisty could have her own fan club. I sincerely believe that it's entirely due to the whip she carries. A small part of me believes that whip and the images it draws up, are the main reasons she was the youngest instructor in the history of the Garden. Of course, this is just a theory. It goes right along with my theory that UFO's really exist.. they do. Honest.  
  
I'm in the process of thinking of something to do to /b piss off Leonhart, when the breakfast club arrives. Irvine tips his hat to Squall, and Selphie, who is pressed as close to possible to Irvine, gives a hearty wave and a dazzling smile. Squall leans back and stares at them, which they obviously recognize as a hello. I grin at Squall's supposed reformed attitude, but lose the expression fairly quick when Irvine pulls the chair back and sits through me. As if to add insult to the injury Selphie plops down in his lap and wraps her arm around his (and halfway through my) neck. I'm suddenly overwhelmed with thoughts and emotions that aren't my own, and am struck by the realization that anybody with as much cheer as I'm getting from Selphie should be taken out and shot..ASAP. Hastily I jump up and seat myself at the chair opposite Squall's, glaring at his amusement in the matter. Selphie shivers visibly and presses closer to the cowboy. "Brr....it's COLD in here!"  
  
Hmph, she should talk. She's not the one who has to walk around shirtless due to the biggest pair of red wings known to mankind. I have to admit though that it's interesting that I can make people cold just by touching them..however given the emotional downside on my part, I don't think I'll freeze people too much. I wonder why I didn't feel Leonhart's emotions when I touch him? Maybe it's because of the bond that's already there...eh, who cares anyways. I decide to listen in on the conversation for lack of anything better to do. Of course it's the hyperactive messenger girl that does most of the talking.  
  
"So Squall, I was thinking we could do another Garden Festival! I mean, the last one didn't really count because it doubled as a world saving party and also Zell didn't get a chance to participate because he choked on the hot dog and had to be taken to the infirmary, remember?"  
  
I raise an eyebrow and glance at Squall. "Say Squally, what kind of hot dog is she talking about here?"  
  
Of course I am ignored, and Selphie goes on. "Anyways, I thought the festival could be a type of fashion show, where maybe we could show off some of those uniforms Rinoa has been designing?"  
  
I cough, and not the polite type. "Rinoa? A designer? What, are the uniforms pink with cute little bows?"  
  
Much to my surprise, Squall nods almost imperceptively. I gag slightly... it's just not right. Unfortunately Selphie catches the nod and assumes that Squall is agreeing with her idea. She flashes a huge smile at him. "I KNEW you would love the idea! Okay, so I'm scheduling the models.. you can be the guest of honor!" Squall's eyes widen in slight horror. Selphie goes on, oblivious. "Rinoa designed this great outfit..you should see the frillies on it! It would be perfect for you. Actually, she designed it for you. But don't tell, 'cause it's a secret!" She winks widely at the still shocked Squall. "It's just so cute, and it'll fit in all the right places! I just need to get your measurements real quick..."  
  
I smirk at Squall. "What's she's saying is; it will effectively show off your tight ass." He ignores me, but his mouth sets into a firmer line. Damn, now I'll probably get the silent treatment for the next five years or so. Oh well, it'll be worth it if he actually has to wear the outfit in public... and doubly worth it if I can get a hold of a camera and the addresses of a few well known newspapers.  
  
Selphie manages to produce a notebook and a pencil (where she managed to hide them under that little dress, I'll never know) and turned back on Squall, ready to begin the torture. Squall stands up quickly and backs away from her, much as I've seen him back away from some of the more grouchy T-Rexaurs in the training center. "Sorry Selphie, but I don't think I can be a very good model. Besides, I have no idea what my measurements are... excuse me, I'm going to get some coffee." He turns and strides off briskly. I grin at Irvines amused look and get up to follow Squall to Selphies shout of, "you'll be a great model! And don't worry about the measurements...I've got a tape measure right here!"  
  
Squall leans forward on the counter and gives the lady twice as much money as the coffee would normally cost. When she raises an eyebrow at him he says. "Keep the change, and I'm really, really not in any hurry."  
  
The lady pockets the extra change and chuckles heartily. "Point taken, O wise commander, one cup of coffee coming up just as slow-as-molasses!"  
  
Squall nods at her and goes to lean against the near wall. I lean right next to him. "So..." I begin, "frillies huh? That should look good on your resume."  
  
He scowls at the ground and mutters a quiet 'shut up', but doesn't say anything else. Hn, probably afraid someone will see him talking to himself. He shouldn't be so worried, people have been expecting *that* for years.  
  
I'm about to comment on the outfit again when there is a polite cough from in front of us. We both look up at the man. I frown, he looks so familiar...I'll get it in just a second..  
  
Squall sighs. "Nida." That's it! Now I know where I've seen him. Nida was that shy, no name, that me and the DC used to bust for being so unobtrusive. It's just not right, being that inconspicuous. Never did like the guy.  
  
Nida smiles at Squall. "Good morning Commander Leonhart. Package came for you today." He holds out a rectangular box to Squall, who simply stares at it. Nida jiggles the box a little. "Come on, you have to take it. I was paid a lot of money to give it to you. The least you can do is *take* it for Hyne's sake."  
  
Squall looks back up at Nida's face. "Who paid you?"  
  
Nida shrugs. "I dunno, some guy wearing a whole shitload of clothes. Everything was covered from head to toe. All I know is that he was tall, and he really wants you to have the package. Hell, he gave me three thousand gil to deliver it."  
  
Both Squall's and my eyebrows raise, mine more so than his. Who the hell pays three thousand gil to deliver a package only about a foot long by four inches wide? Nida answers my unanswered question quickly. "I already ran it through the scanner and nothing is out of the ordinary. No bombs, no spring loaded razors, nothing. He's probably just some secret admirer, or is working for a secret admirer. Come on Squall, just take it. Live a little."  
  
Squall frowns, but finally accepts the package. He examines the plain white bow with the red ribbon bow and looks back at Nida. "Is there anything else you can tell me about this man?"  
  
Nida shrugs. "Not really. His voice sounded vaguely familiar, but then again we did meet a lot of people during the war. Oh, and I think he might have been missing a hand. Some of the clothing he as wearing rode up on his arm when he handed me the package and I didn't see any skin, but it could have been a trick of the light. He left as soon as he gave me the box. Actually, it was more like he disappeared into thin air. I took the box and then turned to talk to one of my students, and when I turned back to him he was nowhere to be seen. That's all, sir."  
  
Squall nodded. "Thank you Nida. How much for the tip?"  
  
Nida threw Squall a salute and grinned. "Believe me, I don't need any tip from you this time around." Squall didn't bother to watch the nondescript man leave the cafeteria. He slid the box under one arm, went to pick up his coffee (while ignoring the wink from the cafeteria lady), and carried both back to the table.  
  
Selphie immediately dropped her notebook and tape measure. "OOH! Look! Squall got a present! Oh..I bet it's from Rinoa, how romantic! Open it Squall, please?"  
  
Squall set his coffee down to the side and brought out the package. I moved behind him and peeked over his shoulder to get a better view of the boxes contents. He opened the package very slowly and meticulously, making sure not to damage the ribbon. I sigh and jab him in the side. "It's a box Leonhart, not the crown jewels. Just tear the fucker open." As per usual I am ignored. When the ribbon is off Squall folds it and sets it off to the side, and then stares at the box as if trying to see the contents through the wrapper.  
  
Selphie squirms on Irvines lap, and the cowboy smiles at the movements. The girl pouts. "Come on Squall, just open it! Ooh, I just know it's from Rinoa, whatever it is!"  
  
Finally Squall reaches out and takes the lid off. The inside of the box is lined with black velvet, and centered in it is a single long stemmed red rose and an envelope with Squall's name written on it in bold writing. I snort at the romantic gift as Selphie squeals. "It's so gorgeous! Read the card Squall! Is it from Rinoa? It is, isn't it?"  
  
Squall studies the thornless rose silently before removing the envelope. I don't recognize the bold writing, and apparently Squall doesn't either. One thing I know is it's definitely not Rinoa, the girl's writing being more thin and elegant. With an almost confused expression on his face he takes out the card and looks it over, while I read over his shoulder. Both of us let out audible gasps at the same time, and I take a big step away from Squall, who for the moment forgets about the others and twists around in his chair to look at me, partly in confusion, partly in cold fury.  
  
Selphie stops bouncing and frowns. "Squall? What's wrong? Who sent it?"  
  
Squall takes one last look at me before turning back to the girl. "It's from Rinoa."  
  
His tone is just slightly less than friendly; even the cowboy seems to notice. Before they can grill Squall, he scoops up his package along with the note and he makes for the door. I run after him, incredibly confused. One thing I do know is that the package definitely was *not* from Rinoa. All I want to know is who the hell sent it so I can grant the person, an incredibly none so quick and not very painless, death.  
  
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Random notes from BS: Whee..and it's another cliffie! heh ^_^ I have the whole next chapter planned out (thank God) so with any luck it will be up within the coming week :D If it's not up you can blame my parents for making me pack instead of updating this fabulous story (we got a new house..joy) =P The basic plan is get as far as possible with this story, maybe another chapter or two, and then I'll go back to Amnesie. As for the Prison Song... I've never even heard of such a fic *whistles* eh well, I'll finish it eventually ^_^ I just have to figure out how to properly kill it. I think after I finish this fic and get a tad further on Amnesie, I'll start my gift for Redrum, mainly because the plot is multiplying and producing a ton of insanely mutilated bunnies up in my head.... but why am I telling you this? Not like anyone cares =P  
  
Also, one other thing. If you guys notice a bunch of errors in my fic (as in speling an da gramerr that jest ain't proper gramerr..not plot ^.-), it's because I'm the beta and I don't usually catch my own mistakes. Other peoples, sure, to the point of being annoying ^_^; but sometimes I miss my own (doesn't help that my writing program has no spell check or anything. I'm just relying on my good old spelling bee training here). So if anyone wants to rant at me for my crappy English skills, have fun! (And I swear I'm being honest) Thanks for reading! laters :D 


	7. And the Plot Thickens

Whee, another chapter. *sigh* I really like this story because I know what the heck I'm doing, basically. Random idea's have been flickering on and off, but so far I'm not sure if you guys would be so open to a couple of my stronger ones (based on review comments). But..that's beside the point ^_^   
  
Disclaimer: Not mine. Phft, I imagine hell would freeze over and my mom would admit the fact that yes, she farts just like any normal human being, before anything related to FF8 belonged to me. Aside from the game, of course ^_^  
  
Warnings: More language, more bad writing, etc. etc. ^_^ Why do I even bother writing these warnings? I mean, everyone knows that this is a SxS slash story, and they know it's rated R, and they know I couldn't write a decent fic if someones cookie depended on it. At least you guys seem to like it (or, if you're still professing the fact that you hate it, well, it's chapter 7, and you've read it this far, so get over it =P)  
  
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"SQUALL!" This has got to be the fifth time I've yelled after the boy since he made his exceedingly quick exit from the Cafeteria, the two of us now standing in the hallway in front of the training center. This being the case, I'm almost surprised when he stops walking and turns on me. His expression is neutral, but I'm feeling incredibly pissed off, an emotion I'm sure is coming from him. I lean over and catch my breath for a moment. Fuck, he sure can move fast when he gets his mind to it. After a few deep breaths I look up at him and frown. "Dammit Squall, you know there's no way in hell I sent that fucking card!"  
  
  
  
Squall's eyes narrow at me as he recites the card's message back to me. "'Dear Squally, roses are red, violets are blue, your ass is sweet, can I have you?, Love Seifer'?" He huffs. "Just how many Seifer's do you know?"  
  
I frown at him. "That's beside the point, and you know it."  
  
  
  
He scoffs. "That may be beside the point, but honestly, Tall? Lot's of clothes? No hand? Dissapearing into thin air? Sound's an awful lot like an invisible man, if you ask me. Or maybe one of Hyne's Fucking Angels."  
  
Fuck. The person who said that Squall never talked was full of shit . . . the man won't shut up around me. I flick my wings out quickly to relieve an annoying tenseness and straighten to glare down at him. "Okay, first of all, I was with you the *whole* time, so I couldn't have sent it in the first place. Second of all, it's not like I'm the only angel around here, okay?"  
  
He glares right back up at me, never one to be fazed by my height advantage over him. "I sincerely doubt that Loki has any reason to send a note to me signed by you stating that fact that I have a sweet ass."  
  
I snort, and briefly consider telling Squall about Loki's new project. Just for the record, I fully intend to kill Loki the next time I see him. Fuck the restrictions, and fuck the fact that he's already dead. Before I can say anything a loud cry of 'Squall!' comes from behind me. Squall and I both begin to reflexively turn towards the voice. Squall turns his attention towards the person, most likely pissed because the newcomer saw him talking to himself, as it would seem. I, on the other hand, don't get to turn far, or rather, I don't get to turn at all. My attention is immediately caught by a cloaked figure sneaking around the corner behind Squall, his hand tucked suspiciously under the heavy cape. I react without thinking as the man raises his hand. I grab Squall around the nearest part of his body, his neck, spin him around and pull him close to me so that I'm between him and the assassin. Squall is barely out of the line of fire before I hear the tell tale hiss of a thrown blade and feel the cold metal pin my wing to my shoulder at the exact place Squalls vulnerable neck had been moments before. I let out a strangled scream of surprise and hurt at the attack and fall to my knees, taking Squall with me. I squeeze my eyes shut against the pain and reach around and yank out the dagger, letting it fall harmlessly to the floor. From somewhere above me I hear an abnormally loud gunshot, which is followed by the dull thump of a body, presumably the assassin's, hitting the ground lifelessly.   
  
With what seems to be to me an incredible show of strength I open my eyes, only to find myself staring into Squalls wide stormy ones. He's conscious at least, which I take to be a good sign. Quickly I drop my gaze to his neck, where dark bruises are already coming to life. I lift my left hand and feel the tender area gently in order to assess the damage.  
  
Someone comes to stand over the two of us and stares quietly before dropping to her knees. Selphie, I should have known. Her bright green eyes look suspiciously bright from this angle as she sniffles. "Squall?! Are you okay? Irvine and I followed you because we were worried about you, and then we saw you glaring at something. Then we saw the man sneaking up behind you and Irvine tried to warn you and then..it was amazing!" She cheers up and a look of wonder comes onto her face. "Wham! You were just spun around in midair and the knife totally missed you! It was SO cool! You must have, like, a guardian angel or something!"  
  
Squall looks up at me. More like a guardian pain in the ass.  
  
I blink at the odd echo-ish sensation of mind speak, but don't waste too much time mulling over why exactly I can hear his thoughts. Instead I glare at him and release his neck. I stand up, favoring my injured shoulder and wing. "Fuck you princess, you'd be dead if it wasn't for....me..." For the first time it occurs to me that Squall isn't dead, when he really should be. So...this means I saved his life? I wait a second for something to happen, I dunno, maybe my wings will disappear, maybe Hyne will show up, maybe Quistis will streak through the small group that has congregated around a still highly pissed Squall, although to give him some credit the brunette at least has the decency to look vaguely confused. But nothing happens. Well fuck, forget Loki. With a scowl I add the Great Hyne to the list. Stupid bitch, lying to me about this...   
  
I think I need to go for a walk. I don't bother stepping aound the gawking students; I just pass right through them while sort of enjoying their obvious discomfort at the situation. I don't get very far though before I feel a tugging sensation around my midsection. I glare down at myself and keep moving. The feeling gets stronger the farther I go and finally, just like I'm attached to a giant rubber band, I go sailing through the air backwards towards Squall. Thankfully the surprised man manages to move out of my way before I bowl him over, and instead of hitting him I land heavily on my wounded shoulder. The pain takes a second to fully settle in, and when it does I scream out what sounds vaguely like a long string of cuss words beginning, ending, and punctuated in between with the the ever useful F-word. I look up at him, scowling, both of us confused with my short flying spell.   
  
Before one of us can say something I'm distracted by a face in the crowd... Loki. With a growl I jump up and throw myself at him, fully intending to rip his throat out. However, before I can get to him another person latches onto me from behind and holds my arms tightly. My moment of confusion over another person touching me is erased when I see the persons large dark blue wings with the customary silver veins stretching in front of me. If it wasn't for my injury I doubt I would have any trouble getting away from the one holding me, but I give it a fair enough fight as it is. Just as I'm about to twist free another angel appears in front of me with arms outstretched, the newcomer seeming intent on preventing my escape. I gape in amazement. The first thing I notice is the purple wings that are slightly smaller than the ones I've seen thus far. The second thing I notice is the Angel's shirtless attire, which would be perfectly fine and normal..if the angel wasn't a female. And believe you me, she *definitely* was not hiding behind the door when Hyne was handing out big bazoo...  
  
"Bout fucking time you stopped struggling, idiot." The Angel behind me releases his grip and I stumble foreward. The Angel, a tall man with blonde hair and steel grey eyes, goes to stand next to the topless female. He crosses his arms across his chest and looks me into the eye. Loki comes to stand by the two and smiles at me meekly.  
  
"Heh...morning again, Seifer." I scowl at him and he skips the pleasantries. "Hokay, point taken. Well, I suppose you have a couple little questions, which is pretty much the reason I've brought my fellow Angels." He mutters something else under his breath, of which I can make out the words 'personal protection', and then sighs.  
  
I narrow my eyes at him. "Listen Lokana, I know you think you have this little project thing going, but as I told you earlier, NO. FUCKING. WAY. What the fuck did you think that note would accomplish?"  
  
He winces at the use of his given name, and then adopts a hurt air. "Why, my dear boy, of course you told me of your opposition to our harmless plan, and of course I relayed your misgivings to my colleagues, but they wouldn't listen! Given that, it wasn't *me* that delivered the letter, it was him!"  
  
He points at the tall blond angel, who in turn smirks and waves at me. Oh God...not another one. I'm getting so fucking tired of these angels with their self-centered smirks and their damn ability to piss me off to the point of genocide. I glare at the tall man, and the woman steps foreward. She rolls her eyes at me. "Believe me, you won't get anywhere talking to these idiots. I'll tell you now, the note is merely one step in the greater scheme of things. What else do you want to know?"  
  
She crosses her arms and stares at me expectantly with her deep green eyes, the move unfortunately making her arms double up as a push up bra. Fuck..I will NOT stare at her boobs... I gulp and stare at the top of her head, making myself concentrate on her dark hair. "Well, given the fact that I saved Squall's ass, I could have sworn that something was supposed to happen... you know, kind of along the lines of me *being reborn*! "  
  
She laughs, a light tinkling sound. "Actually love, you're close. Your mission from Hyne was to merely guard the boy, and if your deeds are approved as worthy then yes, you will ultimately be reborn. You are on the right track though." She snaps her fingers and a large book appears out of nowhere. "This here is the book of the dead. Everyones deaths are listed here."  
  
I raise an eybrow. "Deaths, plural? I thought someone could only die once, or are you taking into fact several different rebirths?"  
  
The blond man takes over for her. "No, just one lifetime. You see, everyone has several official deaths scheduled. You see, sometimes the first official death is avoided, and so there has to be a second official death planned in order for the person to be able to gain a holy death." I blink at him, and he sighs. "Okay, for example..." he flips to a page in the middle of the book "...this person here was supposed to die the first time in a train accident. However, his wife went into labor the day the train was to leave, so he avoided that death (and that kid was one damned ugly baby, if I do say so myself). If there was no death for him to fall back on he would have been sentenced to wander the world forever after his actual death, because everybody has to die a death foretold by Hyne. Luckily this man had five deaths planned. He managed to avoid his first three, and eventually ended up dying the fourth ordained death."  
  
Damn. "What happened to him?"  
  
The blond shrugs. "Kicked a rock, which earned him a bloody toe, which caused him to be sent to the hospital, where they served him poisoned salmon, which caused him to have his stomach pumped, which caused a severe allergic reaction to the plastic that was used, which caused him to break out in hives, which somehow gave him a horrible fever, which caused him to open a window during the night in the middle of a snowstorm, which gave him hypothermia, which quickly killed him." He apparently notices my amused but slightly amazed expression, because he shrugs and says, "What can I say? Hyne must have been desperate for him to die, and Hyne, even she's allowed to get creative every once in a while."  
  
I chuckle slightly before prompting for the obvious. "Why tell me any of this?"  
  
The girl shoves the man out of the way while ignoring his annoyed grumblings "Come on Nicholai, move over a bit. There we go. Okay, seeing as to how that this Squall fellow is a destined guardian, Hyne wants him to get safely to the Overworld, see? So this means that he has to die naturally, by one of the foretold official deaths." She sees my blank face and sighs in exasperation. "Honestly! Okay, basically, he can't die any other death than the official death. There are of course several *un*official deaths written in, one of which was the assassination attempt just now. Unofficial deaths include assassination, murder, suicide, etcetra; anything that's not included in the official section of the book. Your job is to prevent all of the unnofficial deaths and make it possible for Squall to die an official death. The thing is, one unofficial death is way more important than the others. It's the final unofficial death, and if you prevent this death, you will be reborn, got it?"  
  
I nod. She grins. "Good! Okay, what else?"  
  
"Well," I begin slowly, "you could always tell me how I'm able to read Leonhart's thoughts now, and why I was thrown across the room earlier, that is, if it isn't too much trouble."  
  
Loki holds a hand up. "I'll handle this one, Fey." The woman, presumably named Fey, steps back quite bouncily and I have to force myself not to stare at the ensuing jiggling of the breasts. Instead I focus on my dark winged mortal enemy. Unfotunately for me, the feat is something along the lines of not reading the little captions that run across the TV during a newscast..Loki being the newscast, Fey's ... 'chest area' being the captions. Loki smirks and shakes his head at me, most likely reading my thoughts, but thankfully he doesn't mention anything. "Basically it's all part of the bond. Whenever you save him the two of you will grow stronger together, on top of the bond that's already slowly forming. Or at least that's the theory, before you it was only the guardian who benifitted from the bond. A few of us are quite curious to see if Squall will be able to read your thoughts as well. And as for the flying through the air...that's the easy part. The more time you spend with him the closer you'll get to him, figuratively and literally. Right now the force of the pull isn't that strong for you; I imagine you can still get away up to about a hundred feet or so. If you get far enough away you go flying back to the protected, kind of an insurance that you won't run. Of course there are certain ways to counteract the spell, but they're different for each person." He flashes a dazzling grin at me. "In the mean time you can use your closeness to our advantage, and get closer to Squall!"  
  
I hold up a hand. "First of all: like hell. And second of all, when you say a 'few' of you, how many exactly is a few?"  
  
Loki whistles and Nicholai smirks at me. "I'd say a hundred, give or take seven or eight."  
  
My eyes widen. "What the fuck!? You mean that theres going to be a hundred of you fuckers trying to get us together? Oh, *hell* no!"  
  
Loki nods at me. "Heavens yes. My advice to you is to give it up already." He peers at me. "And if you think you can honestly say that you don't have feelings for him, forget it. Remember, I was your guardian for eighteen years, by the time you died I could see your dreams. And by the way, while Squall is athletic, I doubt he's *that* flexible. Bye bye now." He waves at me.   
  
I tilt my head, but before I can ask anything else I can feel myself being flung through the air again. I manage to avoid Squall, who is practically running, but manage to jolt the hell out of my still bleeding wing and shoulder. One look behind me tells me all I need to know about Squall's fast pace; both Selphie and Dr. Kadowaki are hard on the poor boys heels. I follow his excellent example and run like a bat out of Hell (which, oddly enough, I just could be).  
  
The two of us race for the dormitories, the two females from Hell hot on our heels. They almost gain on us, Selphie in the lead, when Squall breaks into a mad dash for his dorm. He jumps inside and slams the door, leaving me to fall through the metal. Not the funnest thing to do, but look at the alternative... Both of us lean against the wall, panting heavily. I jump slightly when there is a loud pounding on the door, and then there is a sharp crack, which sounds suspiciously like a full blown smack from Strange Vision. Once again I wonder where that girl hides everything in that little dress. I look at Squall and catch his eye, and the two of us raise our eyebrows. I grin at the humor in the situation, but the grin quickly fades into a grimace as I stand and feel the full pain of the knife wound on my back. Squall stands and walks further into the room, motioning for me to follow him. He points the the bed, obviously indicating for me to lie down, and then he wanders into the bathroom. It occurs to me that he doesn't want to talk for fear of causing the two outside the door to strengthen their efforts at getting in. If I were feeling better I would be tempted to toss a few items against the walls, but even then I doubt the noise would reach the other side of the thick metal door. As it is I can barely hear Selphie and Dr. Kadowaki shouting for Squall to answer the door.   
  
I crawl onto the bed and gently lower myself so that I'm lying on my stomach. My shoulder throbs from the wound being knocked around and I grit my teeth against the pain. I try to force myself to ignore the ache and shut my eyes. A little bit of sleep never hurt anybody, and at least it will let me escape. I'm drifting in that beautiful land between being asleep and being awake when suddenly a large bolt of pleasure with slightly painful undertones courses through my body, originating from my wing. I snap fully awake and jerk upwards, but then I feel a reassuring hand on my back.  
  
"I'm just cleaning it off so there won't be an infection. I can't put a bandage on it, but I have something better." Squall removes his hand and resumes wiping the blood off my wing and shoulder with a handrag, which I presume he took from the bathroom.   
  
I close my eyes and shake my head. "Ya don't gotta do that."  
  
I can feel him shrug. "You didn't have to save me."  
  
  
  
I snort. "Technically I did, but I guess I can deal with the whole noble sacrifice thing."  
  
"Whatever." He stops cleaning me and throws the rag off to the side. I almost protest the fact that the blood can't possibly be gone, when suddenly his hands are on me again, massaging some thick liquid onto my wounded areas. I arch my back at the feel of his hands on my wings and clench my fists. I *hate* how fucking sensitive these wings are, especially at a time like this. It's all I can do to surpress a moan when Squall comes across a sensitive spot on the edge of the wing; instead I clench my teeth. "Squall," I manage to grit out, "what the hell are you doing?"  
  
He waits a moment before answering, and I let out a whining moan in the silence (Oh, shut up. I'd like to see *you* try to be all quiet with pleasure such as this...). Squall laughs quietly at my reaction. "Like I said, I can't bandage it because other living people would just see the bandages floating down the hallway. I'm rubbing a potion over the wound, sometimes it helps the pain."  
  
I don't answer that, and he continues for a while longer under the pretext that it hasn't healed enough. Personally I think he just enjoys watching me suffer. Finally he stands and tosses the potion bottle away, and then sits down opposite me on Rinoa's bed. I don't know wether to be relieved or annoyed that he stopped, but my dignity wins out over more discreet areas. Relieved it is.  
  
  
  
We both stare into space for a while, before the silence becomes to oppressive for me. I snap my fingers, and he seems to snap out of a daze. Hn, you just have to love Squally land. "By the way, it wasn't Loki who sent that stupid rose. Turns out theres a bunch of angels around here, and they're almost all as incredibly fucked up as Loki, at least from what I saw. The guy that sent the rose is probably worse than Loki is, if he's ever given the chance to prove it. His name is.. Nickolai, or something equally stupid."  
  
Squall is silent for a moment, just staring at a point above my head, and I almost think he didn't hear me. Then he says, "why are there a bunch of angels?"  
  
Of all the lines he could have possibly picked up on...oh well, I guess he'll find out sooner or later. I shrug. "It seems some angels have got it into their heads that I'm supposed to fuck you for some greater cause."  
  
He narrows his eyes at me. "Excuse me?"  
  
I shrug again. "It's sort of a long story, but that's basically it." I smirk at his shocked expression. "Ah, no worries Leonhart. I may be bi, but I know my limits, and your ass is way beyond them. Except in my dreams, of course." I waggle my eyebrows at him.   
  
His momentarily stunned expression is priceless, and I just have to laugh. The laugh intensifies when Princess Rinoa herself runs into the room and catches her knight staring wide eyed at a bed.   
  
She throws her arm around him. "Oh Squall! I heard ALL about it from Selphie, are you all right?"   
  
Squall switches his gaze to her face, and I can just guess his thoughts. I imagine they're something along the lines of, 'well let's see, yesterday my worst enemy came back from the dead and has to spend Hyne knows how much time in my presence, said enemy now has it buried somewhere deep in the back of his brain that he wants to fuck me, this morning I received a rose from a dead person who also seems intent on getting Seifer to have sex with me, I had a knife thrown at me and am only alive because of said enemy, who I am now indebted to, and who I now have to spend even more time with'. He forces a smile for her benefit. "I'm just great."  
  
She smiles, the action oddly making the room seem brighter. "Well good, in that case, I suppose I have some excellent news!" She pauses dramatically. "Laguna's here! He started the journey yesterday, doesn't he just have the best timing?"  
  
I raise my eyebrow at Squall, who seems to have suddenly developed a tic in the left side of his face. "Yo, Squall, who's Laguna?"   
  
"......." Twitch.  
  
Well *that* was helpful. I snort and look back at Rinoa, who pats Squall on the back and turns to leave. Of course, she just has to deliver the finishing blow. "Laguna wants to have brunch with you as soon as possible. Actually, he's in the cafeteria right now! He's just the nicest man." She smiles dreamily and sighs. "Oh well, I'll see you later, kay baby?"  
  
Squall manages a strangled 'Kay' as she leaves, and then spends the better part of a minute staring blankly after her. "Well," I grin, "It would appear that there is never a dull moment around here."  
  
Squalls turns and gives me a scathing glance, and then stands up, stretches, and leaves. I follow him at a relatively sedate pace. "Soo," I begin, "Where ya going?"  
  
"To eat with Laguna."  
  
Right. "And Laguna is. . .?"  
  
He frowns. "My father."  
  
For a moment I decide I hadn't heard right. Leonhart is an orphan, there's no way in hell he can have a father.  
  
The man next to me sighs. "Actually, there is a way in hell I can have a father. Laguna Loire, president slash king of Esthar." He notices my bemused expression. "I didn't believe it either, and that was even *before* I met him."  
  
I'm about to make some smart ass comment when the three gossiping girls from yesterday approach us, or rather, Squall. It's somewhat unsettling for me to be standing there in all my shirtless glory and be ignored, but I guess that's just the rub.  
  
"So I heard about the funeral fiasco yesterday," the first girl begins tactfully. "Were you and Seifer close?"  
  
I scowl and poke Squall. "They're saying it all wrong again. Tell them my name isn't 'Seifer', it's '*Seifer*'"  
  
He ignores me and blinks at them. "I suppose you could say that." I poke him again, hard. He frowns. "I think that wherever he is right now, he would want you to know that his name is pronounced 'Seifer'."  
  
Girl number three raises an eyebrow. "'Seifer'? I like my way *so* much better." And with that they walk off, discussing another random topic.I mutter a quiet thanks to Squall and hope to Hyne that those girls will never become Angels in any form.   
  
The cafeteria is as it should be, mostly empty, fairly quiet, the works. Or at least, it was quiet until we entered.  
  
As we walk in the first thing I hear is a shout of "Squall!" The first thing I see is what appears to be a thirty some odd year old man jumping up and down waving his hands in the air. I stop and raise an eyebrow. Squall huffs. Meet Laguna, he thinks in my direction.   
  
I look at him, somewhat surprised. "When did you learn to speak mindspeak?"  
  
He seems about to answer when he is suddenly swept up (and I mean up literally, as in up off the ground) in a back breaking hug from this.. Laguna fellow. And yes, I do mean backbreaking. It's painful enough that it's even reflecting back to me. Thankfully Squall manages to shrug out of the hug quickly and takes a big step back. "Good morning, Laguna."  
  
Laguna huffs in a perfect imitation of Squall. "What's so good about it? Word is out that you were attacked by a ruthless fiend!" Squall opens his mouth to speak, but Laguna shushes him. "Why don't we sit down first? I already ordered food. Coffee and a muffin for you, and hot chocolate with a strawberry pop-tart for me. Is that okay?"  
  
I notice Squall's slight nose wrinkle at the mention of Laguna's sugary breakfast, but nods anyways. Laguna smiles brightly and, grabbing Squall by the arm, he drags the younger man to a table in the back. I plop down in the chair next to the younger man as Laguna sits across from him. "So," he begins, for the first time resembling a normal serious person. And, if I tilt my head slightly to the left, I can almost see how he's Squall's father... He continues. "Are you going to tell me what happened?"  
  
And so Squall starts telling the story. Since I obviously already know how it goes I just stay out of it, although it is kind of amusing to see how Squall is trying to tell it without mentioing me. I look at Squall for a while for lack of anything better to do, and then look at Laguna, who almost appears to be going out of his way to overeact in all the right places. I sigh, overly bored, and roll my neck to relieve some tenseness. After several loud and painful sounding cracks I drum my fingers on the table for a bit, and then sigh again.  
  
"You look bored." I jump at the feminine voice, and it laughs. I turn to look at the person in order to chew her out, and my eyes widen in surprise at the sight of her. She looks incredibly beautiful. Thankfully she, unlike Fey, has a sort of yellow shirt on to hide her breasts, leaving me to look at her face and her matching canary yellow wings. Her eyes are the color of an ocean storm, her skin is porcelain, and her hair is the color of a very rich chocolate. She looks so familiar...  
  
She smiles softly. "You must be Seifer. I'm Raine, Squall's mother. Pleasure to finally meet you."  
  
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()  
  
Gah! I'm such a bad person! Sorry to end it here, but honestly, I'm just tired of this chapter! _ Bad B.S. ... Tut mir leid and all   
  
Also, please forgive me on explaining a bunch of crud in one long original character rant.. I really didn't know how else to get the information. I mean it's not like Seifer would just know everything automatically, right? But hey, purple wings, ja? Go me   
  
Note: I am no longer going to be making any deadlines for myself, because every time I do I miss them, and they seem to make me take longer (Just look at Prison Song, one update a week, my hiney). So henceforth, I have no idea when the next chapter will come, I'm hoping soon. Right now though I'm focusing on Amnesie. One lucky note is it's spring break, and spring break = lot's of writing time :D  
  
By the way, let's all thank Redrum with great profusion, okay? She's the one who finally got the last chapter all uploaded, I would be dead without her, and my sanity would of course be shot to hell ^_^; I don't know why ff.net won't let me upload anything, it's such a pain in the butt :(   
  
Now for comments on your comments! My favorite part of the whole writing process! =P  
  
Wind Chime Bells: Well you kow, it's funny because when I started this story it wasn't supposed to be funny at all (I'll give a plastic cookie to anyone who can guess what this fic originally started out as, as in what I was originally planning to write =P) ... (not really, but I will give you a cyber pat on the back :D)  
  
Biskit: Thank you! See? Somebody likes Seifer and Loki! Whee, I just might go with my threesome idea now! (Just. Kidding. ... Do not kill me ^^)  
  
Verdanii: Scheisse is definitely right -.- First FF.net won't let me upload my chapters, then it screws up my formatting -.- verrueckt dinge -.- oh well, thanks for reading and enjoying anyways :D  
  
Sillie: Hah! See, it wasn't Loki! okay.. so I know the note is crappy and all that, but how else am I going to progress the relationship? I just wish it wouldn't take so long ^^ Thanks for coming back and checking it out :D  
  
Zavijah: 0.0 are you serious?? Egads, I am SO sorry! well if THAT isn't incentive to keep writing, I don't know what is ^.^ And actually yeah, I had no idea what was on the note either, I'm just going by the seat of my pants here =P  
  
firedraygon97: Ah, thankies :D okay, I'll write more, but only because you said please ^.-   
  
CallunaTea: You're absolutely right, there is nothing like a good story ^^ I'm not sure how true it is about my being *that* great of a writer, but I'll see what I can do :D especially considering your direct order, in capitals none the less ^_^; Eek, why can't somebody just say this story is crap already? Then I can go ahead and laugh and be happy about it...yeah, I don't get me either =P   
  
Cieraco-Sheys: Thanks for liking it :-) Means a bunch ;-)  
  
Okay everyone, you got your 'more', and hopefully I'll figure out the next chapter soon. Thanks for reviewing, laters! 


	8. Of Raine, a Question, and Stuff

Disclaimer: Okay, technical question. "Supposedly" (uses heavily exaggerated finger quotes here) we fans don't own anything, right? But then again, we did purchase FF8 (or I did ((twice.....)), I don't know about the rest of you), so seeing as to that, shouldn't we own a bit of it after all? I mean if no one bought the game then Square would lose money, and stuff... And I forget my train of thought.. cripes -.- Fine, I don't own anything. Square can just go fly a really big kite.

Warning: Language, etc.... why do I even bother writing these things? Anyways, good news/bad news time. Good news: I now know how to officially get the boys together. Bad news: Now I have to get from here to there . Although I must say, I am looking foreward to getting rid of Rinoa, which should be soon (as the Rinoa-bashers sigh in relief)

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

"Holy Fuck! You're _Srgnhgah_?" I don't manage to say the last two words thanks to the woman shoving her hand over my mouth.

"Don't say that!" She looks almost desperate, and I shrug.

"Okay lady, whatever."

She nods and then goes to slip into the chair across from me with a silent 'thank you'. I stare at her for a moment, my eyebrows raised in question. She doesn't seem to get the point. I sigh. "So what, are you the old man's angel or something?"

She nods and flutters her yellow wings. "If you are referring to Laguna, then yes, I requested him specifically after I died" She laughs lightly. "I didn't know at the time it would be a twenty four seven job. Sometime's I think that he thinks he's still a young man with all the stuff he pulls. Did you know he went skydiving the other day? His parachute didn't work, so I had to carry him to the ground." She snorts lightly. "He thought it was the greatest thing, didn't even wonder how he didn't die."

I look over at the older man, who now seems to be telling Squall the exact same story in what seems to be an attempt to make the younger man smile. "You must like him a lot."

She huffs. "Oh please. He's a forty year old idiot who can't even find his way around the country he's supposed to be in charge of, never mind the building he's lived in for almost twenty years. Hyne even gave him ten official deaths, and he's already had brushes with uncountable unofficial ones." She thinks for a moment. "But yes, most of the time I do miss him greatly. You can't know how difficult it is to be so close, and yet so far away from the one you love." She stares at me thoughtfully, and hesitates before she speaks. "I've talked with your. . . to Loki, and he seems to think that you may have a. . . _sexual _interest in my son. Is this true?"

I look over at Squall, who is actually smiling in a vague way at Laguna's story. There's no denying that he is well above attractive, and that tight ass. . . I know I told Hyne that I hate him, but looking at Squall now, I think she'll understand if I change my mind, just this once. Hn, actually, 'sexual interest' doesn't even begin to cover it. I look back at Raine coolly. "What if it is?"

She frowns at me, and for a moment it's easy to see where Squall gets his no nonsense attitude from. Her tone is decidedly less than friendly, although I have no idea what I did wrong. "If it is," she begins, "then I would suggest you start making a move on him. If you two get together, then maybe Hyne will allow more 'intimate' contact between other pairs. I'm not the only Angel who would like that chance to even be able to touch her or his Destined. You don't know how easy you have it, being able to talk to him, to feel him, and to have him do the same to you."

She stares hard at me, the determined set of her face as familiar to me as my own. Hn, I guess all my teasing Squall about his girlishness wasn't so far off after all. I raise an eyebrow at her. "So you're asking me to fuck your son. I don't suppose I'll get some kind of dowry for that."

The words are barely out of my mouth before she jumps out of her chair, stalks through the table, and delivers a stinging backhand to my face. I stare at her in partial shock. "What I'm asking you to do," she seethes, "Is to do what's best for Hyne's angels. What I'm asking you to do is show my son a reason to live. What I'm _asking _you to _do _is get _over_ your fucking self and _help_ us!"

My first reaction, if it were any other person, would be to knock the offender on their ever loving ass. Unfortunately, I don't hit women, even if they do appear fully capable of defeating me in a temper filled tantrum. I briefly weigh my choices. On the one hand, I'll get my ass kicked for not getting together with Squall. On the other hand, I'll get my ass kicked if I do get together with Squall. I look over at Squall, and then back at Raine. For once, looking at the wrathful woman, this is a no-brainer. "Fine, I'll do it. But I want something in return."

She regards me for a moment, and then sits down with a nod. "Anything."

I imagine the implications of that for a moment, but dismiss it. "I want you to answer a question." She blinks at me; obviously she was expecting me to demand the world on a platter or something, but she nods again. "You're an Angel, and those two are both Destined, right? So does this run in the family or something?"

She nods. "Yes, most Angel's are born of the blood. It's very few that accomplish something in their lifetime that would attract Hyne's attention."

I bite my cheek before responding. "So then, do you know which I am?"

There is a slight hesitation before she answers. "Hyne did notice you when you became the Knight, and was interested in your strength. I can't say about your family, though. I'm sorry."

I shrug, only slightly dejected. "It was worth a shot, I guess. Thanks anyways."

Before she can answer, a shrill beeping noise goes off, the source of which is in Laguna's pocket. The man jumps at the sound, and then pulls out a pager. He eyes it momentarily and then curses weakly as he stands. "That's Kiros, he needs me back at the palace; Apparently it's some kind of emergency." He looks at Squall. "Are you sure you'll be all right?"

Squall inclines his head slightly. "I'll be fine."

Laguna's mouth turns up at the edges, and he hugs Squall. "It's strange, isn't it? Maybe guardian angel's run in our family." He laughs at that. "Can't say that we both can't use as much help as we can get though." Squall snorts softly with a hidden and yet entirely meaningful glance in my direction. I stick my tongue out at him, mostly out of childhood habit.

I start as Raine grabs my arm in a sort of death grip, and then raise my eyebrow at her. "Listen," she says, "promise me you won't tell Squall about me? I don't think that would be the best idea."

I shrug. "I don't see any reason not to tell him."

She narrows her eyes at me. "Because, if you'll remember correctly, humans aren't even supposed to be aware that Angel's exist. Now if you tell him about me, what happens if he becomes so shocked that he accidentally slips about it to somebody, like that . . . Zell person, and then if Zell tells someone else, and it eventually get's into all those stupid tabloids, we're all pretty much screwed." I give her my best 'as if I care' look, and her eye twitches. For a moment she looks ready to slap me, but instead she heaves a deep breath. "Fine, I'll make you a deal. If you don't tell Squall about me, I'll ask Loki to leave you alone for a while."

I snort. "And how do I know you aren't lying?"

"Because," she hisses, "Angel's can't lie. Haven't you figured out anything yet?"

I roll my eyes. "Oh please, how hard can it be to lie about something?"

She raises a slight eyebrow. "Then try, if you're so clever."

I shrug. Okay, let's see. "Right. My name is T . . . ." I knit my eyebrows. _My name is Tom. _"My name is T . . . . o . . . .Ow!" I wince as sudden pain lances through my forehead, sending sparks across my vision. When I'm finally able to see again, I glare down at the too smug angel. "Fine. But don't ask him, tell him. And make sure he stays far, far away, got it?"

She nods. "And don't tell Squall about me." It's not a question. I nod, and we shake on it.

She then releases my arm, and I refrain from rubbing it. She goes to Laguna, who is finishing telling Squall to be sure to take care of himself. After one last worried look at Squall, Laguna turns and rushes out of the cafeteria, Raine following close behind. As she leaves she turns and calls out, "Don't tell!" before she has to run and catch up to her charge before being forced to fly after him.

I mimic her words back at her, until I catch Squall giving me his 'you're-a-freaking-moron' stare that always manages to put me in my place. I roll my eyes at him, and he turns his back on me and walks after Laguna, with me hurrying to step in place beside him. It isn't until Raine is long gone that I realize she never told me why I need to give Squall a reason to live.

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

[Squall]

_Thok -thump. . . . thok-thump . . . . thok-thump . . . ._

I lay stretched out on my bed, doing my best to ignore Seifer's latest attempts to piss me off. The idiot is sitting on the floor, throwing a rubber ball at the wall and then letting it bounce once on the floor before he catches it. When he first started I tried to stop him by sending him a well deserved glare, but the bastard didn't even acknowledge me. Here it is, four hours later, and the sound is becoming almost relaxing, in an incredibly annoying way.

It's been two weeks since he first saved my life, which is really bothersome given the fact that I now owe him one. That aside, he's been acting strangely ever since I had breakfast with Laguna. I was too wrapped up in listening to my father than to really pay attention to whoever Seifer was talking too; I just assume it was Loki. He's still doing his best to annoy me, but every so often I find him sitting in some corner, glaring at nothing. When he notices that I notice he usually smirks at me and says something that's meant to really piss me off, but only succeeds in getting me to stop talking to him. And when I stop talking to him, he starts doing annoying things- like throwing the stupid ball at the wall, for instance- until I give in and am forced to say something. Whatever he says though, it's obvious that he's trying to figure something out by himself, and it's even more obvious that he's not getting very far.

_Thok-thump . . . . thok-thump . . . . thok- _"Fuck!" I look over at the tall man, and snort at he sight of him holding his forehead where, it can be assumed, he forgot to catch the ball and it hit him. He breaks off from an unintelligible string of random cursing and turns to glare at me, the effect partly ruined by one red wing that covers half of his face. "Not one damned word, Leonhart. Not. One. Damned. Word." I fight back the urge to roll my eyes at the man's genius. His whole reason for playing with the ball in the first place was to get me to talk, and now he's telling me to shut up . . . . whatever. He grabs the ball and stands up, stares at it for a minute, and then throws it as hard as he can at the door before flopping down on the other bed. He mutter's something that sounds like 'stupid fucking ball, anyway' before turning his head to me. "So, you gonna talk at some point today?"

I turn my head in his direction. "I believe you're the one who said 'Not one damned word.'"

Seifer grimaces. "Stupid prick."

I shrug, and go back to the wonderful art that is staring at the ceiling. Nothing I've never heard before. The other bed creaks as Seifer gets off of it, and he stands over me. He frowns for a moment, and then smirks in a pleased fashion. I look up at him, and sigh. "Now what is it."

"I think I've figured out what she meant."

This time I really roll my eyes at him. "Good for you. Now leave me alone."

"Nuh-uh." He places his hand on his hip, and his smirk fades into a frown. "You're suicidal, aren't you?"

I scrunch my eyebrows at him, wondering where the hell he's coming from. "What?"

"That's what she meant, wasn't it? 'Give him a reason to live', or something like that." I narrow my eyes at him, and his eyebrows raise in surprise. "Holy shit, are you?"

I try to stand, but the larger man has the fucking audacity to push me back onto the bed. The move results in a quick struggle, and by the end the larger man is laying on top of me, holding my wrists above my head, probably to ensure that I won't move. I glower at him. "Move."

He glares right back at me, the prick. "No."

"You're fucking heavy, now get off."

"I know, now start talking."

I thrash around, trying to throw him off of me. "Why won't you fucking move?"

He shrugs, easily managing to stay on top of me. " I dunno, why won't you talk?" I bare my teeth at him, helpless to do much less. If only he wasn't so damned much bigger than me . . . .

He stares back at me, his eyes narrowed determinedly. I sigh. "Yes. Now move."

He just lays there, biting the inside of his cheek, before asking 'why?'

"None of your Hyne-damned business." Unfortunately I can't keep the slight pout out of my voice.

He shrugs again. "Well then, I think I'll take a little nap until you're ready to talk, so if you'll excuse me . . . ."

The man then lays on top of me, and I'm helpless to move. "Seifer, my legs are going numb, so move."

He doesn't raise his head from its position on my chest. "Answer me."

I close my eyes tightly to curb my temper, but it doesn't work. I open them and glare at the blonde head below mine. "Hyne, you fucking bastard, get off!"

He raises his head level to mine. "Answer me!"

"No!"

Our eyes meet in a silent duel, and I'm almost overwhelmed by the intensity in the green-blue orbs. His mouth is slightly parted, teeth bared, in the way that he does whenever he happens to be thoroughly pissed. I idly wonder if he even realizes that he does it. Suddenly, and for reasons I'm not quite sure of, I feel incredibly vulnerable underneath him. The fact that he is still holding my arms above my head makes me feel even more exposed. I close my eyes briefly, and then open them to meet his, while speaking in as civil a tone as I can muster. "Seifer, please let me go." I can't help the slightly pleading tone from entering my voice.

Seifer's mouth closes, and he searches my face, although I'm not quite sure what for. At the moment I don't really care. Then, without warning, he lowers his face and I feel his lips on mine. My eyes shoot open, partly in panic, mostly in surprise, as he slides his tongue along my lower lip. Unfortunately my mouth opens as well, and he takes it as a go ahead to slip his tongue into my mouth. I try to pull my own tongue back, but he finds it anyway and manages to draw me into the kiss. I'm overwhelmed with the surprisingly pleasant taste of him, and with the sensations that such a simple action causes in my body, but it's over all too soon as the larger man pulls back. He gives me an unreadable expression as he releases my arms, and then says, "I'll find out sooner or later." The way he says it makes it sound like a promise, and I almost shudder. He lifts himself off the bed and sits on the next one in one fluid motion, and then smirks at me as I stare wide-eyed at him. "You know, I think I will carry out her request, after all."

I'm so stunned by his change from kissing to acting like nothing at all had happened that it never even occurs to me to ask who 'she' is.

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Random B.S.: Whoo, and thus a chapter that seemed to say nothing, and yet got a bunch of crap out of my way. There. Now I know how to finish! punches air excitedly Still a few chapters left, though, thanks for reading so far Oh, and about Raine: I haven't played the game in quite a while, and she wasn't in there long enough for me to really get a feel for her character. Coincidentally I've been reading Robert Jordans 'The Wheel of time' series, and so I sort of gave Raine the more bitchy Aes Sedai attitude ; So that's why she may seem OOC, 'kay?

Samurai Shoes: Gwah hah! Finally, someone calls this story for what it really is: shit Displays Samurai Shoes for world to see. 'Now look everybody, here stands a fan with good taste in reading choices'. laugh Thanks for reading and enjoying

kAHiTSayAWkIkay: First of all, I hope I got the name right. Thanks for reading, and hopefully the lemon won't disappoint anybody. I say this because my first lemon will be for this fic, most likely, so henceforth I have no idea how good it will be ; but I'll shut up before going off on a long rant about it

maggs: Well, here's your update Sorry it took so long, and thanks for reading .-

AngelStarFire Hikarist II: . . . Recommended by a friend? Wow, almost makes me feel important =P Thanks for the compliments, I haven't played the game in forever, so it's easy to forget who acts like what. . . but at least you seem to think I'm doing a good job, so thanks!

Kozi-Love (Lee): Now that is high praise, right there laugh I just hope no one bashes me in the head for having ye olde 'suicidal Squall'. Thankies .

Kizoku: I know what you mean grimaces I'm not too fond of the first few chapters of this story as well, but hopefully as I write more it'll get even better (hopefully being the operative word .-)

Thankies for the review :D

pochacco5: Thanks! laugh yes, I think I have to keep writing. This fic is almost an addiction, I just don't want it to end shakes head Whatever will I do with myself? Thanks for reading

Verdanii: No, I'm not German, I've just taken two years of the language in high school. laugh Yes, see how well that's going .- Do you speak it at all? Fun language, really thanks for reading

Redrum:laugh you would be thinking of helping Seifer piss off Squall .- sigh.. You know me too well, I think, reading ahead into my story.. Quit it! Lol Hmm, Okay, the other Angel's figure that if Hyne sees the dead and the living happy together, that maybe she will allow all living people to see their dead guardians, and stuff. I don't really understand it myself, really Yes, Raine, although I screwed her up. She will be back though, so any hints will be helpful =P Thankies for the review laters!

Wind Chime Bells:laugh fine, fine- I'll take the blame. sigh I'm trying to write a freaking angsty story here, but I just can't help but expand on a humorous situation. Or at least, what I think is funny shrug. Hn, how could I forget to update when I have you to remind me of its lowly existence? laugh thanks for all the praise, seriously Hopefully you'll still like it from here on out, but I dunno anyways, later girl!


	9. Answers

Disclaimer: not mine. Still. Imagine that. Everything here belongs to Square whatever it is they're calling themselves now.

Warnings: heavy language. And, well, sort of a lemon, but not really. Lime? Which ever. It's not very good, but I tried, so there .-

B.S. note: I'll no longer be replying to reviews here, because I know that accounts are being deleted for that. So, if you have questions or comments, please email me with them! I'm never busy, really, so feel free. Or not. shrug anyways, sorry about this.

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Seifer

"Why the fuck did you decide to take this mission again?" I brush snow off of my wings and shiver, huddling close to a tree.

Squall throws me an annoyed glance which is kind of ruined by the big yellow umbrella he's holding. "I've told you."

"Yeah, right. 'It's your job.' You did it just to piss me off, didn't you." I shiver again, and pull my wings tighter around my body.

"That's ridiculous," he says in a bothered tone while surveying the ground in front of him. He doesn't seem to notice the snow falling around him. "Seifer, help me put the tent up over here."

"Put the tent up? Are you out of your mind? It's cold!"

"You'll be colder without it." He slings his pack to the ground and takes out a folded tent. I sigh, and go to help him.

I look at the large piece of cloth, and then at the mess of poles that are somehow supposed to hold it together. Fuck, who designed this thing? This is more complicated that the Hyne damned SeeD manual. And it's cold.

We're in a small forest a short distance from Winhill. There have been terrorist threats, although why anyone in their right mind would want to destroy this town, I haven't a clue. So of course Squall volunteered to come down and check it out. And guess who gets to come with him? Three guesses, and the first two don't count.

The pole I'm trying to slide into the tent fabric suddenly loses its traction and slams into my hand. I growl out a 'fuck' and throw the damned stick onto the ground

Squall barely glances at me. Now what happened? He thinks in my direction.

I fall back onto the ground and fold my useless wings around my body, still shivering. Teeth chattering, I explain to him. "It explodiated through the damned hydrostatics of the cataliebrium."

He snorts. "Do tell."

"Fuck off."

He doesn't even answer. Instead he finishes with his side, and then makes me hold the fabric up while he does his magic with the poles. In almost no time at all he has the large tent erected. About time too, now all he needs to do is light a really big fire and we'll be set.

I help him to set up our supplies, noting with a vague amount of pleasure that there is only room for one bed after he gets all of his equipment set up. I flop down on the air mattress as he assembles a portable desk and spreads his papers out. After about five minutes of watching him pore over reports and maps, I'm completely bored out of my mind.

"Squall, I want to go for a walk."

"Go then," he says distractedly.

"Can't. I have to stay next to you."

"... ..."

"Was that a yes?"

"... ..." He scowls at the desk.

"You can study later."

"I thought you were cold."

I smirk at him. "Yeah, but now I'm bored. Amuse me or something."

"Hn." He flips to the next page of his report and then consults a map.

I roll my eyes and sigh at the army print fabric ceiling. "Are you going to be like this the whole time?"

He puts his papers down and walks to his bag without a word. After rummaging around for a while he comes back up with a CD player and a CD case. He walks back to his chair and snaps the headphones over his ears, presses a button on the CD player, and then picks up the report again.

"Hmph, fine. Probably a tape recording of some damn lecture anyways." I turn to the back of the wall, and start to examine my wings.

"Well, in all fairness, he is trying to work on an important mission," an all too familiar voice says suddenly from behind me.

I blink and scowl. "Hyne dammit Loki, I thought she was going to tell you to stay away!" I roll over and glare at him.

The ebony haired man smirks at me. "And I did for over three weeks, didn't I? Hyne told me to come back though. She wants me to answer your question for you."

Hyne above. . . "what question?"

He waves his hand airily. "The one about you wanting to know if you were selected to be an angel for your skills or if it ran in the family."

I raise my eyebrows. "Okay?"

He smiles. "Well come on then, I'll show you."

I shake my head and sigh. "Listen idiot, I can't leave Squall's side. How the hell can I come with you?"

"Not a problem. Hyne waived that law for now, but only for a few hours." And with that he gets up and leaves.

I huff, and then go and lift up Squall's headphones. "I'm going out. Bye!"

He scowls again and forcefully pushes his headphones back over his ears. Poor Squall, so predictable.

I run out after Loki, my body immediately breaking out in goose bumps due to the biting cold. Loki is standing with his wings stretched over his head, forming a sort of huge black umbrella that blocks the swirling snow flakes. I take a page out of his book, and find it helps somewhat with the cold and visibility.

The going is rather slow, and we walk in silence for quite some time before Loki decides to talk. "Hey, you remember Fey and Nicholai?"

I grunt. Kind of hard to forget the people who want to ruin my death.

"Well," he says, "they used to be my parents."

Well, that's interesting. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah", he says, pointing the right direction, "When we were alive they gave birth to me and all that. They died when I was two, something about the first Sorceress War. I went to live my Granny here in Winhill. She was really poor, so we didn't have a lot, but we managed to scrape by. After we died they stopped being my parents, because that's only a worldly thing. Nothing like family matters after death, because Hyne is the mother, the world is the father, and all the Angels are brothers and sisters. But obviously people who live together in life are close in death, you know what I mean?" He shakes his head. "I guess you wouldn't, would you?" He muses to himself.

Actually it does kind of make sense, but no need to let him know that. I grimace as my leg smacks a sharp branch, but the cold helps to numb the pain. "So, how did you die?"

He snorts. "It's kind of tragic, really. And not at all pleasant. Do you really want to know?"

"I asked, didn't I?"

His black wings move with his as he shrugs. "Alright. Oh, hold on, let me see where we are." He peers around him, eyes squinted for better vision, and then nods. "Right, over here. Eh, my death. . . it's kind of a long story." He takes a breath. "I was fifteen. Granny was sick, and she needed medicine that wasn't available in Winhill. Obviously I didn't know where Esthar was, so I decided to go to Deling City. My first day there I checked into a motel, and then went out to find the medicine. I'd never been in a big city before, so I got lost. I had also never run into any bad people before, so when this older man offered to help me, I accepted." He scratches his forehead. "Well, to make a long story a little shorter, he raped me and then murdered me in an alleyway. Slit my throat. Still have a bit of a scar, actually, right here." He rubs the middle of his throat. "It wasn't fun."

. . .the hell? "Is that allowed? Shouldn't Hyne have been watching out for you?"

He shrugs. "When she really wants someone dead, she doesn't have to be nice about it. That's why I hated you, you know. I never understood what made you so great, why you got to be alive when I didn't. You and I were the same age, and I was probably smarter. I had people around who loved me and would be hurt about my loss, you didn't really, 'cept for maybe Squall and Quistis. You know how you resented having to guard Squall? That was nothing compared to me." He smirks. "I actually hit Hyne. Punched her right across that perfect face."

I smirk with him. I wish I had seen him do that, it's such a priceless image. I'm about to ask him about his Granny when he speaks up. "We're here."

'Here' is just like everywhere else we've been: white and frigid. "Um, 'here' where?"

"Cemetery," he says, and then waves his hands like he's shooing away a fly. I whistle as the snow immediately disappears over the small area.

"Neat trick."

He waves again. "Just a little something for the kiddies."

The cemetery isn't all that big, holding maybe fifty graves. "Hey!" I kneel next to one of them. "I met her!" It reads 'Raine Loire'. I frown. "She's kind of bitchy."

Loki laughs. "She had to be, to make you so what she wanted. She's actually a lovely person. Funny as hell, too."

I snort. I'll believe that when I see it. I move down the rows, reading names at random. Loki sits down on the ground, underneath a statue of an angel. His black wings and hair contrast dramatically with the white marble, and I'm momentarily struck by the humor in the situation. A perfect angel with black demon wings. Hyne sure does have one hell of a humor.

As I move up the rows the dates start getting newer. 'Alfred Mandell: beloved brother' (the word 'not' spray painted underneath); 'Xavier DeGraff: Bitten To Death by Bite Bugs'; 'Ty Murdoch: About Damned Time' . . .they go on and on. A faint smile is on my mouth, but it drops as I reach the end of the row. Frowning, I lean closer and read it again. And again.

"Uh, Loki?"

He looks up from inspecting his nails. "Ah, so you found it."

". . . I don't understand."

He raises his eyebrows. "What, can't you read?"

I growl at him. "You know what I'm fucking talking about!"

He stands, shakes out his wings, and smirks at me. "Yes, actually, I do. It's fairly self explanatory. I trust you can find your way back?" And with that he waves his arms and blinks out of sight as the snow begins to fall once more over the small graveyard.

I stand, silent for a moment, and then kick the stone cross with all of my might. It tilts slightly, but doesn't fall. And I hate it, hate it for not falling, hate it for being here, hate it for what it represents. I bow my head and squeeze my eyes shut, willing myself to block out the feelings. And then, a sick feeling in my stomach, I turn to leave.

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Squall

I lay the reports back on my desk and rub my tired eyes. If what I'm reading is correct, then there is way too much paperwork for this simple task of eliminating a small group of Sorceress supporters. I shake my head and look over the map again. Maybe I'll go tomorrow when the snow clears up. If it clears up, I think glumly, looking out at the swirling flakes.

I stand and stretch, glancing briefly at my watch as I do so. I lower my hand slightly, and then do a quick double take. 20:00. Seifer left about five hours ago, and it would appear he never came back. Whatever, if he's not back in twenty minutes I'll go after him. Probably trying to piss me off again. I lay on the air mattress, trying to get a bit of rest.

The bed is surprisingly comfortable, and it almost makes up for the fact that I have to share it with Seifer, wherever the hell he is. Seifer. . . Hyne. This means I'll actually have to get up out of this comfortable bed, find my clothes, and get dressed. And then I'll probably have to spend hours in the freezing cold looking for him, all because of his childish behavior. I scowl, feeling the scar tissue between my eyes scrunch up. When I find him he'll probably try to kiss me or some other idiotic thing. For the past week that's all he's been doing, trying to 'seduce' me. Whatever. He's a man, I'm a man. We're rivals, we exchanged scars. He tried to dominate the world, I saved it. It just wouldn't . . . work. . . I yawn. Alright, just a brief rest, and then I'll get up and get dressed and find him. I close my eyes. . .

. . .and snap them open. It's pitch black in the tent, and I wonder vaguely what time it is. . .Seifer! I jump out of bed quickly and then stumble as my foot catches on something. I hop on one foot, trying to regain my balance, but it doesn't help. I can feel myself falling, and brace myself for the impact. It comes hard and fast, but my arms and wrists absorb most of the shock.

Fuck. . .I turn to see what I tripped on. A large red bundle, almost invisible in the dark, seems to be curled next to the bed. I sit up and squint. "Seifer?"

"Whad'ya want?" The voice sounds tired, and holds none of his regular conviction.

I look at him, curled in his fetal position, and frown. This isn't right. "Why aren't you on the bed?"

He shifts his large body. "Didn't want to wake you up."

What? Of all the stupid things . . . "When did you get back?" A brief glance at the clock tells me it's almost one in the morning. He must have left around five in the afternoon.

"I dunno. Maybe an hour ago? Who cares."

I shake my head. "Seifer, get in bed."

He sighs, but miraculously gets up and goes under the covers. He rolls onto the farthest side and turns his back to me, still curled up in his fetal position. I watch him, puzzled. Suddenly a feeling comes over me, a feeling of strong confusion and something that runs deeper, a sense of loss.

I frown, and start getting undressed. I wonder where he went. It had to have been something terrible to shake him this much. I've never seen him like this. Whatever, I'm not going to get anywhere by thinking about it.

I let my pants fall to the floor and then fold them neatly before sliding into the bed with a shiver. Hyne, it's so cold. I clutch the blankets tighter around me, but it doesn't help. Seifer shifts next to me, and then I can feel his arms slide around my waist. A large wing drapes over me. I stiffen in his hold even as I'm sighing from the warmth.

"Seifer, what. . ."

"Almasy." He says, interrupting me. "It said Almasy."

Okay, this is way beyond me. "Seifer, I think. . ."

"No, you don't." He interrupts again. "Nobody does. You have your family, your precious father, even your mother is watching you. I never knew. . . you can't even begin to think. . ."

Out of all his rambling only one thing makes sense. "My mother?"

He doesn't seem to hear me. "Loki, all of them. All dead." He sighs. "Everyone. I never knew."

"Seifer, what are you talking about?"

"Almasy! It said Loki Almasy!" He's not shouting, but he seems to be in near hysteria.

"Loki?" I don't understand.

"Of course you don't understand, how could you?" He reads my thoughts again. "'Loki Almasy' December 22- February 3'. My brother. I had a Hyne-damned brother, Squall. A twin. Parents. She, Hyne, she killed them all, so that I could be the fucking Sorceress Knight. 'Everything has it's own plan and place'." He laughs, a cold dry laugh, and then hugs me tighter. "Why us? Why not some body else? Loki was barely fifteen, Squall, he had to finish growing up under her care in Heaven. Why does she do it? If she's so omnipotent, why can't she just do it herself?"

I sigh, and relax in his grasp. "I don't know Seifer. But we did it."

He snorts. "I guess so. It only ruined my family, not to mention the world."

"Nothing good came from it?"

He's silent for quite some time, and then says, "I'm not quite sure yet."

". . .?" What?

He moves me then, moves me so I'm lying flat on my back. Under him. "Seifer," I whisper. "Get off, please. . ."

"No." He shakes his head firmly, and then sighs. "Squall, I don't know what happened to you to make you want to kill yourself, but I'm not one of those bastards who hurt you. I'm not going to hurt you now, either."

I can see his eyes, oddly bright in the dark. I look beyond his head, at the ceiling, listening to the storm rage around us. "Seifer, Rinoa. . ."

"Can go to hell," he growls. His lips brush over mine, and then his head lowers. A tongue licks the side of my neck, warm and so unexpected, and my eyes open wide in shock. "Seifer!"

He nips the spot lightly and then releases, and I stare wide eyed at him. "You. . .I. . .you. . ."

"Me, you, me," he smirks at me. "Get to the point."

"What do you think you're doing?" I can't believe he did that! What is wrong with him? "You licked me, my neck, you licked my neck!"

"I plan on licking more than that, Squall."

Panic overwhelms me, and I try to throw him off. He doesn't even budge, something I'm sure is impossible. "Seifer, no. I refuse to do this."

"Do you?" His tone is almost bored as he smirks at me. Hyne, wasn't he just crying on my shoulder about his family? What happened to that?

"What happened, Squall, was that I'm at a very unstable point in my life, a point which requires human contact. Not only are you handy, you're the only human I can touch. Now hold still."

"Seifer, we are two men!"

"Oh, you're a man?" I scowl at him, and he smirks as he throws all the blankets off of the bed. "Squall, just shut your eyes. Relax. Enjoy yourself."

I'm about to get up and leave, but then he rubs my neck in the previously licked spot. Tension immediately melts away, and a fuzzy feeling takes over my brain. "Hyne. . ." _It feels good. . ._ The thought initially surprises me, but then is forgotten as more waves of pleasure take control of my vision. "Okay, maybe just this once. . ." And, against my better judgement, my eyes close. I don't even feel in control of my own body at this point.

I can feel him get on his knees above me, and then he uses both hands to massage my neck. His hands, moving in long smooth strokes, move down to my chest, where he rubs away all the aches of the past several months. I hum in pleasure as his hands move to my stomach, my mind completely empty of trivial matters. I'm barely aware of him as he moves lower, only that he applies more force to my stomach. "Hn. . ." He chuckles, and then rubs further, pushing my underwear out of the way. He massages with one hand and uses the other to lift me up. I do so without a thought, barely registering that he's taking my briefs off. I lift my legs, allowing them to slide down, residing in that wonderful place between awake and asleep. If only he would stop rubbing my penis and start rubbing my neck again. . . something doesn't seem right with that thought.

I come back to earth with a start, really noticing for the first time what Seifer is touching now. And also noticing that I'm hard, sticking up for the world to see. "Seifer. . .!"

He looks up at me, the look in his eyes something I've never seen before. Something indescribable. "Squall," he asks softly, "Do you want me to stop?"

I've never felt this way, not even with Rinoa. With Seifer it's different, better. I flop back on the bed and put my arms over my eyes. "... ..." _No._

He laughs breathily, and then does something I've never even heard of before: he licks my penis. I jerk my hips, but don't say anything. It feels so good, so much better than anything I've felt before. I can feel the aftershocks of that little lick reverberate through my body, creating waves of pleasure. "Hyne. . ."

"Please don't mention her," he states, and then I'm lost as he brings me into his mouth, slowly, inch by inch. I can feel myself losing it, becoming lost in the pleasure. _Must. Not. Cum. In his. Mouth._ I repeat the thought over and over as a mantra as he draws me in deeper. His hands run over my skin: my stomach, my legs, my chest. He tweaks a nipple, and pleasure explodes through my senses. I can feel myself thrusting up into his mouth, but he forces my hips back down to stop me.

And then I can feel the orgasm starting, like a tidal wave crashing and roaring towards the shore, and I can hear a high keening noise ripping unbidden from my throat, and his mouth is so hot on my dick. . .and then he's still. The impending orgasm halts on that one deliriously high point, and then sinks back to the ocean. "Seifer. . ." I can't keep the sobbing noise from my throat.

"Yes?"

"Nnnnnggh." _I hate you_.

"Oh, then I guess you don't want this. . ." And then his mouth is over me again, licking me, massaging me, and then his hands are on my dick and it's all I can do not to scream as he pumps and licks me. Black pleasure spots burst in my vision, and I can feel my body writhing and I can hear senseless words pouring from my mouth, and then he draws me fully into his mouth again and sucks hard while lightly running a hand over my nipple, and I can't hold it in anymore. I jerk my hips off the bed and I'm coming and I don't think it will ever stop. Seifer thankfully doesn't quit and even after the initial orgasm my body still twitches as pleasure rebounds through my senses.

I fall back on the bed, breathless. "Seifer, fuck."

"Maybe later Squall, I'm tired."

My eyes widen. "Don't you want. . .?"

Seifer shrugs and crawls up the bed to lie by me. He rests his head on my chest and curls up next to my side with his leg over mine and his arm wrapped around my torso, and then drapes his wing over us. "Later." And then he falls asleep, breathing evenly, his chest rising and falling as it rests on my own.

I rub my hand over his wing and revel once again in its smoothness and softness, not what I had expected when I first saw them. He shudders in his sleep, and smiles. Bastard didn't even give me time to thank him.

_Well, _I think as I drift off to sleep, _I'll have to make it up to him later._


	10. To the Death

Disclaimer: (Hee, only one left and then no more disclaimers!) Not mine. Still. Go figure.

Warnings: Language, abrupt ending, so on so forth.

Right, if the format is messed up, blame 's quickedit. Please. I'll try to fix it later, if it is in fact messed up. Thank you.

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Domain of the Angels: Recreational Room

"Hey, toss me some popcorn!"

"Get it yourself!"

"We're supposed to be married!"

""til death do we part, sweetheart!"

"Oh shut the hell up and give her the popcorn, Alan." Nickolai scowled at the shorter Angel from his seat on one of the numerous couches. Alan grinned cheekily back and handed his former wife a bowl of popcorn.

An air of energized excitement was evident throughout the spacious white room. Over a hundred Angels had turned out to watch the Earthly proceedings, the precedent to what would surely be one of the biggest decisions ever made in the Overworld. Several couches that amazingly fitted everyone comfortably were scattered across the room, and on the wall was a big screen television that was idly showing clips of various humans, with captions and voice overs reminiscent of commercials.

The sodas were opened, popcorn was passed out, seats had been claimed: the Angels were ready to start the show. Unfortunately, the unknowing actors were not yet in position, and the Angels were slowly running out of patience.

"Hey," one Angel peered intently at the television, where a thirty-ish heavyset blond man was yelling at someone on his cellphone while using the privileges of the bathroom stalls. "Haven't we already seen this guy?"

"No," Alan's former wife shouted back to him from across the room. "That's Jensen, my old car dealers son. That other guy was his cousin, Larry."

"Huh. You sure?" The Angel asked, unconvinced.

Suddenly every one in the room became an expert on the characteristics of Larry and Jenson.

". . .no, because Larry hates cellphones. . ."

". . .yeah, but that looks like his stall. . ."

". . .who was his Angel again? Let's ask him. . ."

Suddenly a small but authorative voice filled the air. "Hey, everyone, quiet! It's starting!" The Angel had yellow wings, blond hair, and big green eyes. Her name was Celia Tilmitt, and her attitude had obviously been passed on to her living daughter.

A hush fell over the crowd, the suspenseful atmosphere rising to a fevered pitch. Suddenly, it was ruined by a crackling noise.

"Nicholai Almasy, please report to my office." The voice of the Great Hyne filled the room, better than the greatest PA system ever made by man.

Nicholai groaned. "Now?"

"Now." The voice was authorative.

Nicholai sighed, stood up, brushed off his blue wings, and set his popcorn in his vacated seat. "Touch it and you die," he growled to no one and everyone in particular. He hated being head of the guard, he was always the first to receive hell, and at the worst possible times. He accidentally mashed a few toes as he left, leaving muttering Angels in his wake.

As soon as he left a hush fell over the crowd. The lights dimmed, and excited chattering commenced. A young voice piped up from the back of the crowd.

"What's the big deal?"

Raine, who was sitting next to him, explained patiently as other Angels angrily shushed him. "This is the final battle. If Seifer can prove that Squall being able to see him is beneficial, then Destined everywhere will be able to see their Angels."

"Ah huh," nodded the boy, who was known only as The Little Rascal. He had met his unfortunate end in the harbor of Balamb, trying to prove he could touch the bottom. "So then this is the final unofficial death?"

Raine nodded while brushing his unruly hair off of his forehead. "Yeah, this is it."

The boy thought for a moment. "But," he asked, confused, "isn't Squall only seventeen?"

Raine nodded absentmindedly. "Sh, it's starting."

The little boy shrugged and grabbed his popcorn.

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Seifer

"Uh, Squall, I thought you said that we were dealing with a small faction of sorceress supporters."

". . . . . ." Squall's eyes narrow.

"Well, it's not very small."

"Hn."

". . .the word 'faction' doesn't quite fit, either."

"Really."

I click my tongue as I view what appears to be about two hundred armed men, a good many seated on Hexadragons, all with their weapons pointing in our general direction. "Right, then. Do they at least support the Sorceress?"

Squall shrugs, and draws his gunblade. As he does, mine appears in my hands. I glance at it, slightly bemused, but don't stop to worry about it. I have bigger problems.

Thankfully the day didn't start like this. The two of us had woken up, neither of us caring to discuss the night before, and had immediately set off to Winhill to question the inhabitants. They complied, but offered no information other than what we already had. Squall, being the chatterbox that he is, didn't exactly care to probe them deeply, and his attitude set a lot of them off. We were told over and over that no, nobody had ever seen more than five of the resistance faction members together; yes, three people had been killed; no, we don't know where they're staying; no, we have no more information. Waste of fucking time, to be honest.

Coming across the enemy was sort of an accident. We had been walking back to the forest, and as we crested the hill we sort of met the enemy coming in the opposite direction. Armed and looking to be somewhat dangerous. Which leaves us in our current situation. That being, not a very good one.

I look at our surroundings, and have to admit that there's really nothing we can do. Woods a couple miles to our left, Winhill a mile or so behind us, a rock cliff on one side, water on the remaining three. Our mission here would be to keep the enemy from getting to the village, which, in all honestly, is fucking inconceivable. Squall and I make two, the enemy makes about two hundred. So, if each of us fight with the strength of three men, that still makes about sixty some odd men for each one of us. Even imagining that we're not killed straightaway, the enemy could easily spread out and slip through around us, while a few men keep us otherwise distracted. Our only hope, a phone linked directly to Garden, was left at the tent by the ever diligent Squall. I still don't see what everyone thinks is so great about him. Honestly, he has the battle brains of a pitchfork.

The man in question maintains his battle ready stance, and speaks to me without taking his eyes off the advancing enemy, none of whom look too eager to be in the front of the rest. "Hey, Seifer, did you have any spells or GF's on you when you died?"

I snort, slightly offended. "I don't bother with that crap. Why?"

He ignores the question. "I'm going to request a surrender. If they refuse, I'm going to unleash Bahamut."

What, the dragon GF? I eye the enemy, unconvinced that even the king of dragons could take them on. "You think that'll work?"

"No." He sheathes his blade and strides towards the small army, arms in the air to show that he isn't armed. I cuss and follow him, thanking Hyne that I'm already dead.

"Excuse me. My name is Squall Leonhart, commander of Balamb Garden, SeeD Rank A. I request that you lay down your weapons and surrender!" His voice is strong, clear, and emotionless.

A rumble of voices immediately breaks out among the 'small resistance faction', debating whether or not Squall is for real. A man, easily my height and decidedly far more muscular than anyone I've ever seen steps out from the crowd, resting a large gun easily on his shoulder.

"An' if we don't lay down our weapons and surrender? What then, Mr. Commander?"

I narrow my eyes at the accent. Fucking Trabians. It's as if they're born to make other people's lives miserable.

Squall sucks in air through his teeth next to me, obviously annoyed. "Then I'll be forced to manually disarm you."

The leader chuckles, incredulous, as he gives Squall the once over. His followers laugh as well. Squall just stands there, looking as if he's discussing the weather with a random stranger. The Hexadragons make loud annoyed trumpeting sounds at the sudden spike in noise and shuffle in place, reptilian tails swishing angrily.

The leader's chuckles die down, but a broad grin remains. "All right then, Mr. Commander, please, be my guest. Manually disarm us."

Squall's eyes narrow. "I'll ask you once again to surrender."

"Aye, and I'm telling ye once again to go fuck yourself."

Squall's lips tighten, and his eyes become pretty much hidden behind the slits between his eyelids. The irises switch from blue to grey and back again, and then he closes his eyes. He places a hand to his forehead, and mutters something to himself. Then he flings the arms straight out, yelling the name, "Bahamut!"

Nothing happens.

The soldiers, who had settled into a state of apprehension, slowly relaxed as they realized nothing was happening. There began a lighthearted banter, the tone of which was relief, and the leader rolled his eyes.

"Cute. Real cute. Now if'n ye don't mind, I'd like to kill ye so that I can be on my way."

He swung the gun from his shoulder, aimed, and shot, all in one graceful motion. Two things happened then. I jumped for Squall as soon as I saw the man reach for his gun and we fell to the ground together, me on top of him. I quickly wrapped my wings around our bodies, arching my back and gritting my teeth in pain as the bullet tore through the membrane.

At the same time the sky turned black, and thunder flashed everywhere. The air pressure grew so dense that I felt like someone was pushing me into the ground. It let up suddenly with a loud roaring noise, and then the screams started. The King of Dragons was upon us.

I had read about him, but had never seen him in action. Figuring that everyone would be too busy to attack Squall, I rolled off him to watch the legendary GF in action. Even if I don't believe in using them, their power attracts me.

I watch, almost in awe, as he attacks the small army. He chases down the soldiers, bombarding them with bombs, lights them on fire with his breath. Flaming pyres of half dead soldiers run screaming and beating at themselves, the stench of burning flesh and hair making me gag. The few soldiers that are able attack back, but it's obvious the Dragon will win. And then, as suddenly as he appeared, he leaves.

The remaining soldiers and Hexadragons run around, weapons drawn, stumbling over each other. Burning dead bodies lay all around; the ashes rise into the air higher than I can see. Moans and screams of pain permeate the air, along with soldiers shouting at other soldiers, all trying to act like they know what the fuck they're doing.

"Holy fuck," I mutter. "I need to start looking into these things. Hey, Squall, where'd ya pick that one up, anyway? . . .Squall?"

The brunette lies flat on his back, eyes half way closed. He makes no effort to move.

He's unconscious.

"Where is 'e? Where's that fuckin' bastard?"

My eyes unconsciously snap to the voice. Son of a bitch. The Trabian asshole survived. His hair is badly singed, and his skin is painfully red and sooty in some areas, but he's alive. And apparently wants to kill Squall. Can't imagine why.

Fuck, fuck, fuck. . .Squall can't defend himself, and there's nowhere I can drag his body before someone notices. I look around, desperate, and my eyes fall on a boulder. It's roughly the size that I would be if I crouched down. I take a quick look at the leader to make sure he hasn't noticed us, and then grab Squall by the armpits and drag him towards the boulder. His head rolls back loosely, exposing the angles of his fragile neck.

Thankfully he doesn't weigh much, so it's really no problem to just prop him up against the boulder. It almost looks like he fell asleep while sitting up. His head falls foreward and rests on his chest, and I roll my eyes. Not like it matters now what position his head is in.

I sit against the boulder too, next to Squall. The leader of the group hasn't noticed him yet, but it's only a matter of time. I have to work quickly.

I reach up and put a hand over his forehead while closing my eyes and concentrating. I have a theory, and it's the difference between Squall's life and my never being sent to Heaven. The theory is that if I can experience his emotions and read his thoughts, I should be able to access other parts of his brain. Namely, his junctions.

Nothing happens for a minute, and I feel somewhat stupid. 'Come on come on come on. . .' the words repeat in my head. Finally a voice enters my head.

"Name and purpose."

Fuck, I have no time for this. "Seifer Almasy, access to Squall's junctions."

There's a silence, and then, "Ah, you are on the list. Very good. Here you are, Mr. Almasy. Have a nice day."

I barely have time to wonder how such a frigid man as Squall could have such a pleasant conscience before power overwhelms me. My whole body seems to tingle; I feel invincible. Magic abounds in me, I can feel it course in my veins; the very power of the universe belongs to me.

A light glows behind my closed eyelids, and deep voices rumble together as one, "you called?"

The GF's, I imagine. Suddenly it occurs to me that I have no idea how to use them. "Yeah. Would one of you mind jumping out there and knocking the shit out of that army? I'd be much obliged."

There's a silence, then: "which one of us?"

"There he is!" The leaders voice reaches my ears, and I begin to panic.

"Fuck, I dunno! All of you?"

An amused laugh. "Silly boy, that would be the worst mistake you'd ever make."

Hyne! Do I look like I care?

I can feel sweat dripping down over my eyelids as the remaining army storms towards us, and yell out the first name that pops into my head.

"Griever!"

There is a hesitant silence, and then a deep voice, deep enough to break mountains, states: "Very well, young master."

Then there is pain, pain such as I've never experienced before. My head feels like someone is busting it up with a hammer, my body feels like its been ripped apart and rolled around in a giant barrel of salt. My eyes feel like they've been gouged out, and I could swear I've been torn from limb to limb. I feel like my finger and toenails have been ripped out and my skin has been rubbed with barbed wire.

And yet, I don't pass out. I force myself onto my knees, and stare at what's happening around me, breathing heavily.

Griever is amazing. He's among the soldiers, swiping off arms and heads as he goes, causing fires, freezing with ice, crushing with meteors. Death follows him at every turn; blood stains the ground. Screams and roars rend the air, which has turned dark blue and foggy.

And yet, he manages to miss the leader. The big man runs towards Squall, ignoring his men. He tosses the gun aside and pulls out a machete; a manic tint lights up his eyes.

I look for Hyperion, and cuss as I realize I dropped it when I went to move Squall. Well, there's nothing else to be done. I pry Lion Heart out of Squall's steel grip and then stumble to my feet, holding the lighter gunblade in front of me in a defensive stance.

The leader stops and narrows his eyes at the weapon; he can't see me. I take advantage of the situation; pulling the blade back, I swing at him with as much force as I can muster. Due to the pain, it's not enough.

He jumps back quickly, and holds the machete in front of him. His eyes flicker back and forth, never leaving Lion Heart, but trying to find me just the same. I mimic him, holding the blade in front of me, circling with him. He suddenly purses his lip and lunges, aiming for my neck. I side step quickly, sending my hand out to catch my balance, and trip over Squall.

Lion Heart goes flying, and the other man's gaze follows it. Then his vision flickers back to Squall, who was knocked flat on his back when I tripped. I stand, holding my fists in a basic self defense pose, trying to shake the feeling that I'm stealing Zell's moves. The Trabian stands perfectly still, and I imagine he's listening for me to move.

The pain spikes momentarily, and bright lights burst across my vision. I squeeze them shut to clear myself, and then open them. The Trabian's nostrils flare, and I realize he's trying to smell me.

He's fighting blind.

Slowly, so slow as to not make a noise, I bend down and pick up a rock. Straightening quietly, I throw the rock as hard as I can at the ground ten feet behind him. It hits with the ground with a very audible thump.

Immediately he springs forward next to Squall, landing directly to the right of me. My wing actually brushes his back, and he thankfully doesn't feel it through the thick leather shirt he's wearing. He squints around and lowers the machete to rest against Squall's neck.

"Show yourself, or I kill him now! D'you hear me?"

I almost have to laugh, wishing I could show myself. As it is, I have the element of surprise. I'm sure that some tight asses, not naming anyone like Squall, would call this fighting dirty. I call it advancing a situation for my benefit.

It happens quickly. I turn on my heel and jam my fist against his nose, feeling it crunch. He drops the machete automatically as his hands rush to his nose. I grab the dropped machete and clench my teeth as I raise it high.

His head comes off easier than I thought it would; he must keep the blade pretty sharp. The body, already in a kneeling position, falls quickly. The head rolls a little farther and stops, resting on its cheek. Blood stains the ground.

I drop to my knees and retch, hugging myself tightly. My wings frame my vision, the dark red made almost black with the spattered blood. There is a hand on my shoulder, a hand as bigger then my head.

"Well fought, young master."

I laugh humorlessly. "Griever. You done?"

A deep rumbly sigh emits from the ancient GF. "For now, yes. Would you be so kind as to transfer us back to Squall before you leave?"

Leave? I fall back, landing on my ass, and then sit there. "Where am I going?"

Griever rumbles again. "Back to the Overworld. You've proved yourself worthy."

The information fails to make any real impact on me. "So soon?"

Griever shrugs. "Master Leonhart was not meant to live even this long. He has served his purpose."

I sigh at the phrasing. That's all it is, really. We were all just made for Hyne's purpose: dog's purchased for their owner to learn and obey.

Griever cocks his large head to one side, and I know that he understands. "For what it is worth, Young Master, you have done well."

Then he disappears. The immense pain eases, and I squeeze my eyes shut with a sigh. Back to the bitch.

I crawl over to Squall, and place my hand on his forehead. It's too hot for my liking, but I guess it doesn't matter anymore. Although I admit it would be a huge letdown if the savior of humanity died of a fever.

"Name and purpose?"

"Seifer Almasy, return of GF's."

The voice hums pleasantly. "Oh, very good, young Almasy. I knew you could do it. Alright then, here we are." The tingling power leaves me, making me even more depressed than I was before. The random thought that GF's are like drugs flickers through my head, making me smirk slightly.

"Goodbye, young Almasy."

"So long, voice in Squall's head."

The voice chuckles, and then fades away. I wonder briefly if that's the voice Squall talks to when he goes off on one of his interior monologues, before a bright light shoots across the sky.

It's pretty, I suppose. All purples and reds and various other colors. It swirls in the air, and then gathers together and shoots towards Earth. I have to shield my eyes against the brightness, turning my head away. Fuck, why does everything have to be so theatrical? Suddenly the light dies down, and there is a 'ding' noise, like someone just smacked a bell.

I lower my arm and open my eyes, and blink in confusion. It's an elevator. A typical, run of the mill, sliding door elevator.

The bellhop, a man with orange wings and a dark range hat gestures me into the small room. I start forwards, and then hesitate.

"Hey. What about Squall?"

The bellhops eyebrows raise slightly as he looks in Squall's general direction, then he frowns in confusion. "Well, sir, he looks pretty dead. I imagine Hyne has it covered."

Dead? A moment of panic overcomes me as I spin in his direction, only slightly appeased as I see the steady rise and fall of his chest.

I roll my eyes. "That's not Squall, you moron. I mean the live one."

His eyes widen. "Oh right. I'll take care of it."

He searches around in the pocket of his orange pants and pulls out a cellphone. Yes, a cellphone. He expertly flips it open and presses a few random buttons. He rolls his head around a couple of times as he waits, and then brightens.

"Hey, Amanda! How are you? . . .uh huh. . .no. . .no, I'm not going to ask for your number, I actually have a case. . .yeah, Squall something or other. . .uh huh. . .hell, I dunno." He holds a hand over the receiver and looks at me. "He from Balamb Garden?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Good." He holds the phone back up to his ear. "Yeah, Balamb.. .hey, you're supposed to be the expert, not me. Why don't you just scramble the receiver to the Ragnarok? . . .Yeah, I saw it on my descent. It's about thirty forty from the gate. . .got it? . . .Zell, yeah, spiky blond guy. . .he got the message? . . .Great. So, can I have your number?"

He blinks and holds the phone away from his ear as someone starts shouting on the other end, and then quickly hangs up. "Well, Mr. Almasy," He says, sounding anxiously cheerful. "The Ragnarok will be here any minute. Care to leave?"

I raise an eyebrow at him. "I have a choice?"

He shrugs. "Well, no, but I usually get a tip for being hospitable. Now come on sir, or we'll run into the Ragnarok."

I take one last look at Squall and then step on board the small green elevator. The doors close with a whoosh and a ding, and there's the familiar sense of falling and then a slight humming noise. The bellhop stands by the door, arms clasped in front of him, grinning slightly. I look around the spotless walls, the gleaming doors, and frown at the crappy music.

"Julia Caraway? You can't be serious?"

The bellhop shrugs. "I don't make the decisions. Hyne likes it for some reason though, plays it whenever she can."

"Hyne like's this shit? Fuck, they don't play it everywhere do they?"

He brightens. "Nope! Actually, the Overworld is pretty sweet. You can listen to anything you want just by thinking about it, look in on any mortal you want at any time of day and, a new feature, high speed internet!"

I stare at him, incredulous. "Right. You need to sort out your fucking priorities."

He grins and shrugs. "Most likely. Anyways, we'll be there soon, so you might want to make yourself presentable." He throws me a towel.

I towel off my face and wings to the best of my abilities, scowling at the world in general. Another meeting with the Great Hyne.

I hate Mondays.

B.S.: Alright, so finally another chapter is here. Guess what? One left to go! Then this fanfic is officially killed, with a certificate of death and everything! Whoo hoo!

Anyways, in case anyone was wondering about the Angels in the TV room, it just came to me while I was thinking about nothing in the shower. The idea 'wouldn't it be funny if the Angels watched us like a TV show' popped into my head, then I imagined a big theater, with popcorn. . .never mind. So yeah, one more chapter. Which I hope to have up VERY soon.


	11. Together in Death

Disclaimer: FF8: Squaresoft. Plot, etc.: Mine. Ha, I win. (sniffle Last disclaimer for this story .)

Warnings: Language, NO lemon (Sad, really.), crappy ending. Also, quickedit has killed my formatting! So please, kill , not me. ;

Whee, last chapter. But you already know that, because you read the last chapter (this makes perfect sense). Anyway, I would like to thank all of you for making it this far . Much obliged.

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Squall

"Yo. Yo, Squall, you thirsty, man? C'mon, wake up."

". . .ngh. . ." Go. Away.

"C'mon, we're almost at the Garden. You gotta get up."

I open my eyes slowly, and am met by the sight of a worried Zell. His tattoo catches my attention. No reason, it's just a place to look. I wonder vaguely where he got it and why. We've never discussed it. Then again, we've never discussed anything. Zell, the chicken-wuss.

Chicken-wuss. Seifer. Where's Seifer?

"Where's Seifer?" My head feels like someone's hammering the hell out of it with a big heavy book.

"Uh. . ." Zell turns his head slightly, and the tattoo leaves my line of sight. He peers at me and then touches my forehead with a 'hm'.

"Squall, Seifer died, remember? In Time Compression?"

No, really. Dumbass. I sit up slowly, wincing at the ache in my back, wondering vaguely why my body feels so crappy. It looks like I'm in the Ragnarok. Now that I'm aware of it, I can hear the vague droning of the engine and the feeling of being in an intensely smooth car ride.

Seifer is nowhere in sight. I can't feel his presence, the tiny space in the back of my head that connects me to him is gone. Wonderful; yet another person has left me. Like it wasn't bad enough the first time.

I scowl at Zell and stand quickly; the move makes me sway slightly.

Zell jumps back. "Hey man, what're you doing?"

I push past him, ignoring his annoyed humph. "Taking a piss."

"Wait, Squall, hey man, come on. . ."

I ignore him and shut the door behind me. It doesn't block out his voice though, as he yells, "Hey Selph! Something's wrong with Squall. He think's Seifer's alive!"

Selphie yells something back, and Zell cusses mildly. "Hey, Squall," he shouts while giving the door a single loud bang, "You've got ten minutes before we get there. Selphie is calling Dr. K now, so she'll be ready for you."

I lean against the cool metal door, sighing softly. "Go shove it up your ass."

"What?"

Looking at the ceiling, I reiterate. "I said, 'fine'."

"Oh," he states brilliantly, and then thankfully leaves.

I close my eyes and then sink to the floor, allowing the door to support my descent. I have a raging headache, I'm incredibly nauseous, and this bathroom has no handy window to jump out of. Sometimes life just sucks.

I draw my knees up under my chin and wrap my arms around them, squeezing my body together as tight as I can. I can't feel Seifer anywhere, so I imagine he must have fulfilled whatever it was he was supposed to do. I guess that's a good thing, for him, but still, I hate it when people have to leave, especially people I'm close to.

. . .What-fucking-ever.

"Squall? Squall, can you hear me?"

Selphie. ". . .yeah."

"Oh good! Hey, look, can you like, come out now? We're almost there, and Dr. K wants you to be right there when the door opens." Her voice is slightly high pitched with concern.

Zell's voice cuts in. "Do you need help? I can carry you if you need me to."

A thought occurs to me, and my eyes snap open. ". . .who exactly is driving?"

There is a pause, followed by both of them saying in unison, "Oh, crap."

I roll my eyes and stand awkwardly, wincing at the stabbing pain in my head. To hell with Dr, K, just give me a gun and two hours with these idiots.

I press the lock, and the door swings open. They aren't anywhere to be found, so I walk to the control room, where Zell grins at me nervously.

"Hey man, at least auto-pilot was on, right?"

I look at him, trying to figure out once again if he's for real. "Whatever. Are we there yet?"

Selphie turns around to smile at me, apparently having gotten over her mistake. "Yup, just landing, actually."

My stomach enters my throat as she proves her point. We land with a jolt that knocks me to the ground. I press my hand to my forehead with a groan, reminding myself to ask Cid to find a certified pilot for this damn ship.

The door lifts up, and immediately a small army of paramedics floods into the room. Before I have time to think I'm hooked up to blood pressure monitors and my hand is covered in iodine to make room for the IV. Two of them wheel a stretcher up the ramp, telling each other exactly what to do, and yet both working with a precision such that no words should really be necessary. Dr. K is in the middle of it all, giving orders and directing the ten odd people for what should be just a minor check up. She pauses to check my temperature by placing her hand against my forehead.

"Tell me Squall, how do you feel?"

"I feel fine," I say, then jerk my hand up and accidentally slap her as the sharp IV needle is inserted into my vein without warning.

With a frustrated growl I rip the IV out and throw it hard onto the floor. There is a collective gasp from the medics, who all stop what they're doing. Feeling as if my point has been made, I glare at the shocked paramedics and walk out the door.

Dr. Kadowaki chases me. "Squall, really, you need to stay for observation. Won't you just. . ."

"Fuck your observation," I state mildly, and then speed up. She stares after me, shocked. As if I care.

I enter the repaired Garden, not bothering to respond to whoever dares to speak with me. I almost collide with the boy who has made it his life's mission to have a coronary while running laps in the Garden, and glare at him too. Don't see why not, really. He simply flips me the bird and keeps running.

I shake my head, lips tight, and keep my eyes straight forward as I continue to my single special SeeD room with the extra bed. It doesn't exactly feel like home, but at least it has a nice strong lock on the steel door.

As I press in the code to unlock the room, I realize that maybe steel isn't enough. Rinoa immediately flings herself around at me and wraps her arms around my neck.

I roll my eyes towards the ceiling as she nuzzles her face into my neck, and don't bother to hug her back.

"Oh Squall, I was so worried! They said you were hurt really bad, I didn't know for sure that you wouldn't die!"

The tears building in her eyes just disgust me, and my lip curls.

"Rinoa, can you please leave?"

Her brows scrunch in confusion, and hesitation enters her lovely brown eyes. "Excuse me?"

"Can you leave? I want to be alone."

She makes an odd choking noise in the back of her throat, and a tear falls down her cheek. "Squall. . ."

She obviously won't be leaving on her own any time soon. I purse my lips slightly and ignore her gasp of surprise as I grab her upper arm. As I lead her to the door I manage to say, "goodbye, Rinoa," before literally throwing her out.

Once she is clear I jab the emergency locking mechanism and sigh as the door slams shut. Something tells me I should feel horrible for doing this to her, but I could honestly care less. She was nice while it lasted, but really, it only lasted about an hour.

I move away from the door, ignoring the petulant cries from the other side, and remove my jacket. I toss it on my bed carelessly, and it's quickly followed by my shirt and red belts. I toy with the idea of removing my necklace, and then decide to leave it.

I walk into my private bathroom and turn on the water, intending to take a nice hot bath. My muscles could probably use the relief, and it would give me a little while to relax and think things through.

The water flows into the tub, hot and steaming. I lean against the counter and stare at myself in the mirror. It's odd, I look just the same on the outside, but am so screwed up on the inside. I focus on my eyes, wondering at the many colors that form the grey iris, until the steam makes my reflection disappear.

Then I wriggle out of my pants and underwear, thankful that someone removed my shoes on the Ragnarok. I toss them into a corner, not caring anymore whether or not they'll get a wrinkle. Like Seifer once said: 'Heaven forbid.'

I step into the bathtub slowly, allowing my body to get used to the warm temperature bit by bit. First my feet, then my ankles, then I lower myself into a sitting position and slowly settle myself into the water. Finally immersed, I relax with a sigh.

I swirl my hands in the water, lazily noting the pull of the flow and the swooshing pressure against my skin. It feels good, almost too good. A man could live forever like this, not having to worry about everything or even anything. Idly I flick at the water, smiling slightly as it splashes against the wall. I follow the trail of the water as it drips down back into the tub, feeling languorous, like I'm floating on a cloud, or something flowery like that. The heat seeps into my muscles, relaxing me, and then, at that moment, I feel so tired. A peaceful kind of tired.

Maybe a little rest wouldn't hurt after all.

Seifer

"Okay, look. I don't give a shit whether or not I've 'fulfilled my mission', got it? Now if you all are done, can I please get the fuck out of here?"

Roughly a hundred Angels look at me, non-plussed. I had been set upon by them as soon as I got off that damn elevator, mobbed and totally outnumbered. They had all thanked me profusely, some of them twice, and had thrown a party in my honor.

"But," one Angel asks, blinking strangely, "don't you want to stay around for the verdict?"

He means the verdict from Hyne that will give the yeah or nay to Angels being allowed to physically interact with their charges. I sigh, telling myself this is the last time I'll answer before reverting to something drastic. "No, I do not want to stay for the verdict. I want to talk to Hyne."

The same Angel stares at me for quite some time, and then says, "but the verdict. . ."

". . .can go fuck itself," I finish for him. "Now would someone mind telling me where the hell Hyne is?"

Honestly, boy. How many times must I tell you, there is no real Hell?>

I groan and turn around. Hyne stands in the doorway, serene as ever. "Not the mental mind fuck shit again."

She smiles softly, and then addresses the other Angels. "My children, you have worked long and hard for the interaction of Angels and humans. Thanks to young Seifer Almasy and Squall Leonhart, I have made my decision."

There is a collective hush as the Angels lean in close.

Hyne stares at them all, no expression whatsoever, and then says, "I've decided on the blue."

I stare at her, bewildered, as cheers erupt around me. Almost immediately I'm lifted onto the shoulders of several nearby Angels and am carried around the room. Some Angels are burstnig into tears, and not a single one is quiet. It's like some kind of contest to see who can make the most noise or something. It doesn't help much as I realize they're all chanting my name.

I wave around at them, slightly put off, and then thump the shoulders I'm riding on. "People, hey, you. Put me down."

Of course, that was a mistake. As soon as I hit the ground I'm hugged by several people, the first of which is a man the size of Laguna's friend Ward. I have to fight to get out of the mass, and find myself to be glad I didn't have to fight these people during the war.

I work my way past dozens of cheering, crying Angels towards Hyne, and then stand with my hand over my heart, gasping slightly. She smiles at me, unperturbed.

Come, child.>

I roll my eyes skyward, but follow her just the same, glad to leave the partying freaks behind me. We go down several hallways, all of which have roughly ten doors in them. The doors all have numbers, and it occurs to me that these are the living quarters for the Angels. I frown a little bit when I see them. It had really never occurred to me where Angels slept. I had assumed that they lived on clouds and played trumpets all day. Of course, I had also assumed that Hyne was a man.

The Goddess in question pushes open a door marked 'Authorized Personnel Only', and waves me inside.

I find myself to be in the same room I had woken up in and, wouldn't it just be my luck, it's complete with its very own Loki. He smiles brightly and waves, and I nod at him.

Hyne leads me to the same stone table where I once watched my life flash before my eyes. She waves her hand over it, and Squall is shown. My eyes narrow and then widen.

"Hey, what the fuck?"

Hyne raises a beautifully sculpted eyebrow at me. "Yes?"

I watch the image, unchanging in its reality. "Is this real?"

Oh, yes.> Hyne's voice reverberates through my skull. Everything you see here is real. However,> she says, while making the image disappear, that is of little consequence. There are more important things.>

"Right. Like what?" Like there could be things more important than what I just saw.

Hyne waves at Loki, who steps forward. "'Morning Seifer. Anyway, I'm supposed to be teaching you all you need to know about being an Angel. Guess what? We get to be roommates until you learn it all." He smiles brightly.

Oh, hell no. My eyes widen against my will, and he laughs.

"Just kidding. But anyway, I am supposed to be teaching you this stuff. First off, any burning questions?"

I'm about to say no, but when I shift my weight I happen to knock my wing into view. "Yeah. What's with the color scheme?"

He frowns, and then it seems to dawn on him. "Oh, the wings? That's easy. Each color signifies a status, or rank. Let's see," he thinks for a moment. "Red is the bottom of the scale, for the trainees. You know, the scrubs." He ignores my glare. "Orange is for labor people, like the cafeteria helpers or the bellhops, that kind of thing. Yellow is healers, because some Angels are too stupid to stay away from critical situations. I imagine you'll be seeing a lot of them. Green is for messenger services, they deliver messages to Earth and take care of basic news coverage. Blue is the army. Nicholai is the Commander, actually. One step down from the Angel of Death. Purple is the records. They keep track of every Angel, all the books, who does what, who's in charge of who, and tons of other things. They all have specific functions. Fey is in charge of the Book of the Dead. She decides pretty much everything, and deals with the people that Hyne takes no interest in. And then you have the whites, which are all the Government positions, and the gold, which is everything else.

The idea that I'm lower than a cafeteria worker kind of stings, but I notice that he didn't mention black. I figure it must really suck, if he left it out. "What about black?"

He grins far too broadly for my taste. "Oh, I was hoping you would ask. Black is the highest of the high. Second only to Hyne in everything. Who knows, if you work hard enough, you just might get there someday."

I glare at him, shaking my head. "What-fucking-ever."

Seifer.

I turn my glare on Hyne, and am slightly perturbed when she doesn't even notice. Instead, she is looking into the table, face pensive.

Squall needs you.>

Squall

"Squall? Squall?! Squall!"

The screaming voice wakes me from my rest, knocking me out of a rather lovely dream. I scowl and roll over, surprised to find myself on the bed. I imagine that I must have dragged myself here from the bathtub, too tired to notice what I was doing.

"Dr. Kadowaki! Please, you have to come. Please!"

The hell? I thought I kicked Rinoa out. Her hysteric sobbing screams alert me, and I unconsciously slip into the defensive position. God, I hope she's not going to try something drastic to get back at me.

"Rinoa?"

"Squall, get up."

"I'm up."

"Squall," she sobs, "please get up."

As I sit up, three things happen simultaneously. I realize that Rinoa isn't in this room, she's in the bathroom. Dr. K bursts through the door, followed by a couple of paramedics with a couple of odd revival apparatuses. And last, I notice the wings. Two of them. On both sides of me.

I can see them, but I can't feel their weight. Hesitantly I reach around my back and feel for my shoulder blades, swallowing hard as my hands come in contact with the thick leathery bases. Son of a bitch.

I stand awkwardly, the weight initially throws me slightly off kilter. Then I make my way for the bathroom, where Rinoa is gibbering in a high pitched voice.

"I dunno I just got here and he was weird and he threw me out said he wanted to be alone and I had no idea and he wouldn't talk and then he was in the bathtub and I found him and he didn't come up and he didn't move and I didn't know what to do and. . ."

"Will somebody please take care of her? I'll deal with her in the infirmary later."

As I look into the room one of the two paramedics holds a hand towards Rinoa and casts sleep, talking to her gently, and she gradually falls silent. He picks her up and starts to carry her out of the room. Before I can move to any degree, he walks straight through me.

I watch as Dr. K pulls my body from the bathtub, watch as it is lowered onto the floor amid a small flood of water. She immediately uses a phoenix down starts pumping the chest in basic revival fashion. Not much happens. She lowers her head and places it on my chest, next to the icicle scar, and then shakes her head.

With a determined frown, she casts life on me, and pumps my chest again. Nothing happens.

The second paramedic returns, and asks what he can do to help. Dr. K looks at my body sadly, a small tear escapes her eye. Silently, she reaches up and closes my eyes.

"Nothing."

The paramedic sighs deeply, and bows his head. "I'll alert the headmaster."

"Thanks, Morgan."

The remaining paramedic stands, his pants soaked, mood somber. "I'll take the equipment back. You want me to bring anything?"

Dr. K sighs, and then nods. "A . . . a body bag, if you would. And some towels."

The paramedic nods back and, with one last look at my body, wheels the equipment out. Dr. K, left alone with my body, sits down with crossed legs and puts her head in her hands.

I walk into the room, hardly noticing the water, and kneel next to her. My body looks nothing like what I thought a drowned person would look like. The skin is tinged slightly blue from lack of oxygen, but I'm not all bloated. In a way, I'm thankful. I don't want my comrades to have to see me like that.

I rest my hand on Dr. K's shoulder, although I know she can't feel it. My face looks peaceful, for once in my life. I view the scars with a kind of detached distaste, the reasons for each one flashing briefly in the very back of my brain. The scar that Seifer gave me the first time around is slightly puckered from being so long in water, and without thinking about it I reach up to feel the space between my eyes. It hardly surprises me that the scar is still there, and I have to say I'm grateful for it. My scars are a part of me; I would feel like an important piece had been taken from me if I had lost them.

After a minute or so Dr. K sighs and stands, brushing her pant legs off. She opens my cupboard and grabs the towels, then drapes them over the floor around my body. They're immediately soaked, and she wipes up the mess as best she can and then throws the lot in the corner next to my pants.

I scowl at her. She just ruined a two hundred gil pair of pants, and doesn't seem to even care about it. Instead, she just keeps sighing and looking at my body. I could have been buried in those pants. I rub my forehead, shaking my head. Dr. K never was incredibly useful.

"Excuse me, Doctor. The headmaster is on his way. He wants you to leave Commander Leonhart where he is, and report back the infirmary."

Dr. Kadowaki stands and plants her hands firmly on her hips. "Does the headmaster realize that I'm the only trained professional on his staff?"

"Yes, I do, Doctor," I stand on reflex as Cid strides into the room. "I also realize that Commander Leonhart is beyond medical help. An investigation will have to be made, so unless you're a trained investigator, I'll have to ask you to leave."

The Doctor gives him the hairy eyeball, and the two engage in a vicious battle of the glare. Finally Dr. K shuts her eyes with a sigh and, with one last look at my body, she turns to leave.

Cid watches her leave, and then shakes his head. "Regrettable," he says under his breath, and then leaves the bathroom. I follow him out, not exactly sure what I'm supposed to be doing. I mean, am I supposed to be stuck on Earth forever? I always thought that death was the end, but now, I have no clue.

Cid sits on my bed and turns on the intercom. He waits for the Garden operator to answer, and then says, "Esthar, Laguna Loire."

Oh, shit.

Laguna comes on the line with a click. "Yellow?"

Cid waits for a moment, and then takes a breath. "Mr. Loire. . ."

Laguna's voice comes over the speaker, still insanely cheerful. "Please, call me Laguna."

"Alright, Laguna. Listen. . ."

"You know, I've actually been meaning to call you. I wanted to know if I could have a permanent SeeD coalition force in Esthar. I was thinking maybe Squall could lead it, maybe start his own Garden here. . ."

"Laguna, please. . ."

"I'd be willing to pay any amount of money, you see. . ."

Cid's face goes from solemn to slightly annoyed to clenching his jaw. Finally he sighs. "Laguna! Listen to me, Laguna."

"No, Headmaster, don't tell him, Cid. . .I swear. . ." I try to wrest the phone from him, but my hand passes straight through it.

"Laguna, Squall is dead."

I freeze at his words, and slowly turn my head towards the speaker. There is a long, death still silence. Finally Laguna laughs, a nervous laugh.

"I'm sorry, Cid. I don't think I heard . . ."

Cid intervenes. "He drowned in his bathtub. He was discovered by miss Heartilly approximately half an hour ago. It was too late. I'm terribly sorry Laguna, I know how you. . ."

There's a hard click, and then a droning buzz. Laguna hung up on Cid.

I fall backwards onto Rinoa's bed, cursing Cid for the fool he is. Seriously, who tells someone about a death over the phone? He's got no fucking tact. There's no telling what this will do to Laguna, the man already hopeless as it is.

Cid sighs and shakes his head, then presses the button again. I stand, wanting to get away from this moron.

My wings make me tilt to one side as I stand, and it takes me a moment to orientate myself. I walk around the edge of the bed and to the door, trying to ignore Cid as he requests a forensics team. Honestly, I died. It's not a national emergency.

I look at the metal door, and decide to test exactly how far my being dead can go. I stick my hand up and press to the metal. It brushes over the cool material, and then I press harder. Slowly but surely, my hand goes through the door. I stare at it for a moment, and then debate pushing the rest of my body through. I may have been lucky so far, but I would hate to get halfway through and then find my body stuck inside of a stupid door for all eternity. After a short debate, I decide to go for it.

I pull my hand back in, take a step back and then, shutting my eyes, I jump through the door. . .

. . .and land on top of a person. I open my eyes wide, and then wider as I realize I'm sitting on Seifer. I can't get off of him fast enough.

He rubs his forehead and groans, then lowers his hand and looks at me. Almost immediately, his appraising look turns into a glare.

"Who the hell gave you black wings?"

Seifer

As is typical, Squall get's the V.I.P. treatment as soon as we get to the Overworld. Hyne herself is there to greet him, backed by several hundred curious Angels, all wanting to get a glimpse of the 'Savior'. And, as is also typical, Squall has no clue whatsoever.

He's in the middle of a conversation with Loki, who came to get us in his own personal elevator. Something about Squall's elevated status, and all the perks the precious black wings get. I find myself clenching my teeth, almost positive that Loki is behind this. He's the only person I can think of who would find it amusing to torture me like this.

"Also, you get unlimited time in the shower. Naturally the water never gets cold, unless you prefer it that way. The lower statuses have a set time limit, you see."

Squall nods his head, apparently seeing very well.

I find myself glaring at Hyne. "His royal majesty requests your presence."

She smiles at me, serene as ever. "Thank you, young Almasy. You've done well. I believe you deserve a reward for this."

"Oh?" Visions of black wings and long hot showers fill my mind.

"I'm promoting you to the green. You will act as a secretary for Mr. Leonhart."

"What?! You can't do that! Do you have any idea how unfair that is? Just because he saved the world. . ."

She walks by me, completely ignoring me. "Ah, Mr. Leonhart. I'm so glad you arrived safely. Please, follow me."

He looks towards Loki (Loki?!), who motions him on. With a barely perceptible shrug, he follows the witch. Loki grabs my arm as he passes, forcing me to follow. I wrench my arm from his grasp and follow of my own volition, glaring at the world.

Much to my great un-surprise, I find she's led us straight back to the room with the weird table. With a serene face, she says, "Welcome to the Overworld, Mr. Leanhart. I am Hyne."

Squall's eyes widen, then he scoffs. "Bullshit."

"And so do cows, but they don't brag about it."

Squall frowns. "Excuse me?"

"Sorry, I've been wanting to say that for decades." Hyne smiles benignly. "However, I jest you not. I am Hyne."

Squall shakes his head, and I raise an eyebrow at him. "You can't be Hyne. Hyne is a man."

She cocks her head to one side. "Gender is rather relative, isn't it?"

"Whatever. All the stories say you're a man."

"Yes, but I happen to be a woman."

Squall narrows his eyes at her. "So, you never cut your body in half?"

My eyes go wide. I don't know what the fuck he's been smoking, but man . . . Hyne breaks into laughter.

"Oh, that old story. Yes, at that time I was in my true form. The humans were so amusing, you see. The look on their faces when they discovered my body was only a shell. Ah, to be young again." She smiles again.

Squall nods, as he seems to do when he's proved a point. "Your true form. A man."

"Technically, I have no sex. But I suppose that form is more manly. It is annoying, you see. All those unsightly bulges. I much prefer this form."

Squall nods, then replies, "But your true form is manly."

Hyne stares at him for a very long time, then sighs. "Yes, my true form is that of a man."

He nods again, as if he's made some kind of point to himself. "What's my purpose here?"

Hyne blinks, thrown slightly off balance. "Oh. Well, nothing for now. Young Almasy has agreed to be your secretary. . ."

"What?! Bullshit!"

". . .and he'll be quite happy with it. You may ask Loki or any of your peers for help, if you so choose. Loki will show you to your room now. However, due to a shortage, you'll have to double up with Young Almasy until another room can become available. Unless, of course, you don't wish him to. I believe there is room in the kitchens where he can sleep."

I glare at him. "Squall, if you even think about it, I'll rip your fucking head off."

Squall laughs slightly, then shakes his head. "He can sleep on the floor. May we leave?"

Hyne nods, and indicates for Loki to show us out.

The man turns and motions us to follow him, black wings bobbing with his steps. I glare at Hyne one last time, the turn to follow Squall.

Loki walks ahead of us, humming a random song to himself, minding his own business. I catch up to Squall and pull him back a little ways, just out of Loki's earshot.

"Hey. How ya doing?"

Squall shrugs. "I've been better."

"No kidding. I saw what Cid did. Fucking asshole, doesn't have a goddamned clue. But hey, I'm supposed to give you a message."

Squall scowls at the mention of Cid's name. "What?"

"One of the healers doesn't like the look of that head wound you got in that last battle. She wants you to come down and see her about it as soon as you can."

"Do I have to?"

"Well, no, but if you don't, she'll probably have my head. For some reason, your mother hates me."

He stops in his tracks, grey eyes wide. "My _mother_?"

"Yeah, Raine Leonhart. She caught me when I was going down to get your ass, made me promise to tell you."

Squall stares at me. "My mother? She's here? She knows you? Wait, oh Hyne, does she know what you did?"

"Yeah, your mom. Yeah, she's here. Yes, I've had the great un-pleasure of meeting her. If you're referring to my stint as the Knight, she knows. If you're referring to that blow job, she knows that too."

He goes white.

"Look Squall, it's not that big of a deal. She was trying to get my to screw you from the beginning, okay?"

He starts walking, almost like a zombie. "My mother. . ." he says, again, his eyes staring straight ahead.

"Yeah, whatever. Y'know, you still owe me for that."

He swivels his heads towards me, slowly. "What?"

I give him my best grin. "I figured since we'll be sharing a room and all, you could pay me back. You owe me one."

". . .Seifer, I don't. . ."

"Eh-hem. 'Scuse me, but this is your room." Loki stands outside the door, hands clasped behind his back. I can barely discern the faint silver scar across his neck for a moment before he levels his head towards me. "There's only one bed, for now, but only because I love my little brother so much. We're working on another one. Squall, when you're ready, some people up here would like to meet you. Now look, before you go in, I need to ask you a couple questions. Seifer, would you mind going away? Buh-bye." He gives me a little four finger wave. I glare at him, then walk into the room and shut the door.

It doesn't really surprise me that the place looks more like a high rise apartment than a room. There's a huge living area with a kitchen off the right. Chairs are placed randomly throughout the room, with a huge stereo system, computer, big plasma screen TV, and several other devices scattered around.

"It's too quiet in here," I mutter to myself, just for the sake of making noise. Immediately there is a ring, like that of a bell, and the radio clicks on.

"What would you like to listen to today, Master Almasy?"

Master Almasy? Now that's more like it. I smile at it, pleased. "Whatever's good."

"Very well, sir." There's another click, and 'Eyes on Me' immediately blares from the speakers.

"Gah! No! Shut off! Fucking thing. . ." I hate this song. The radio ignores me.

I spot a door nearby and, almost wrenching the door off its hinges trying to open it, escape inside. Hyne, he even has a gorgeous bathroom. White marble floors, walls, and bathtub, all inlaid with tendrils of gold. The place positively gleams. It has a wall size mirror against the back wall, two sinks, and a tub big enough to throw a party in, among other things. Something about the room seems odd, though, and it takes me a few moments to figure it out. Finally, it hits me, but doesn't really sink in.

The room has no toilet. Huh. Now that I think about it, I haven't used the bathroom since before I died. I haven't even felt the need to go. Come to think of it, I haven't paid attention to anything from that area. Slowly, ever so slowly, it dawns on me.

My pants go from buckled with a belt to around my ankles in 2.67 seconds.

Squall

". . .come to think of it, we don't really do much. Basically we're sitting here, waiting for the day we can once again walk the Earth. Although, to be honest, I don't really see the point in it. Up here is so much better than down there, even with all the renovations and common lack of space. But if you really want, I'm sure you'll find something to do."

Hyne, this guy is almost as bad as Laguna. I have to admit though, at least Loki has a point in his ramblings, whereas my father just kind of . . .rambles.

Without warning, he throws an arm around my neck. Before I can shake him off, he grins at me lop sided. "Out of curiosity, did I hear my dear brother making plans to get laid this evening?"

. . .oh yeah, that. "Yes."

His face kinda scrunches up, like he's trying not to laugh. "I don't suppose he's checked out his piece lately, has he?"

"How would I know?"

He laughs. "Oh, this is excellent! You have no idea."

". . .What?"

He grins at me wickedly. "Okay, you're gonna love this. You remember earlier when Hyne was saying how gender was relative, that she wasn't male or female?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Well," he grins broader, "The same goes for Angels. For the most part, we retain our outward appearances, whether they be male or female, but below the belt, there's no distinction."

. . .I thought something felt a bit different. Strangely, the loss of my penis doesn't bother me too much. Seifer, on the other hand. . .I find myself starting to smirk at Loki. He nods, the two of us on exactly the same wavelength.

At that moment, the door crashes open inwards, and a panicked Seifer runs out to throw Loki against the wall.

"You, it, how, what. . .what did you do to me?!"

Loki smiles benignly. "Sorry, I don't speak gibberish."

Seifer brings Loki close, then slams him into the wall. "My penis! What did you do with my fucking dick?"

A group of about five blue winged Angels walk towards us, then stop and stare oddly at Seifer. With a collective shrug raise their eyebrows at each other and keep walking. I watch them leave, incredibly amused, as Loki tries not to laugh.

"I'm telling you, I didn't do anything to you. Now if you'll put me down. . ."

"Oh, I'll fucking put you down, I'll put you down where the sun don't fucking shine!"

"Ooh, well sooorry, Mister Comeback King. I'll be sure to send a postcard."

"Loki, I'm so damn serious it's not even funny. . ."

"You know, actually it kinda is, once you think about it."

Well, he has a point, even if Seifer doesn't see it. He drops Loki, not very gently, onto the ground, and then storms back into our room, not even bothering to look at me.

Loki stands, rubbing his neck. "Hyne, you've lived with that for seventeen years? I'm sorry."

I shrug, but before I can answer, Seifer yells, "HYNE! SHUT THE FUCK UP!", and then there's a huge crash. The song immediately ceases.

Loki raises his eyebrows, eyes wide, and then turns back to me. "Wow. You think you can handle that for the rest of eternity?"

I scoff. "He's been neutered. There will be no living with him for the next century."

Loki laughs and shakes his head. "True, true. Well, I need to go get some work done. My boys at the office put together this huge scam. It's my job to distract Hyne so they can carry it out."

I frown. "Scam?"

He smirks. "Yup. See, we get kinda bored up here. So one day Lars, you don't know him, says, 'hey, guys, I put together this list of ten commandments. Why don't we give them to some idiot on Earth and see what happens?' So of course we all thought it would be funny, especially since Lars has this really godly voice he can use. They're not bad, actually. Just stuff like 'Thou shall not commit adultery' so on so forth. Anyways, gotta go. See ya."

And with a wave, he's off. I watch him as he leaves, shaking my head. This guy is a bigger moron than his brother.

I walk back into the room, noting all the crap that's in there. I'll have to get rid of half of it later, especially with Seifer around.

The stereo lies on the floor in two pieces, yet still manages to say, "good afternoon, Master Leonhart."

Seifer growls, "don't you even fucking start", from his sprawled position on the couch, at which the radio gives a despondent sigh. I don't even want to know.

I sit on the opposite end of Seifer's couch, then have to reposition myself a couple times to accommodate for the wings. Seifer laughs breathily, then sighs. When I don't comment, he sighs louder, and in my direct direction.

With a roll of my eyes, I give in. ". . .What?"

"Ya know, you still owe me a rematch from when you scarred me."

I stare at him, incredulous. "I scarred you?"

He points between his eyes. "You were the one with the blade. So, when can we do it?"

"You're thinking of this right now?"

He sighs, then begins counting a list of grievances on his fingers. "I died because some stupid bitch decided it would be fun to rule the world, I woke up to Loki, you decided to punch me in the face when you saw me, my funeral sucked, nobody likes me, you have black wings, I'm stuck as your secretary, the only woman I've ever thought of fucking turned out to be my mom, I grew up in an orphanage, you scarred my face, and then Hyne, damn her to hell, took my penis. She took. My. Penis. I think I'm entitled." He stares at me self righteously.

I lean back into the couch and groan.

This is going to be one hell of a long eternity.

plplplplplplplplplplplplplplplplplplplplplplplplplplplplplplplplplplplplplplplpl

Random Reader: What?! All that waiting, all the reading, all that crap, and NO LEMON?! WHAT?!

B.S.: (points) Blame Loki. It was him. (innocent stare)

Random Reader: . . .GAH! grabs B.S. by the throat and squeezes tight

B.S.: 0.0

Okay, in all seriousness. I decided that I suck at lemons, so, I figured instead of torturing myself (and you guys) by writing one, I'd torture Seifer by neutering him ,- I know, I'm horrible. Please, kill me later.

Also, about Rinoa. No, she didn't die, and nothing horrible physically happened to her. My reasoning? Come on, the two men she cared for the most are both dead! How would you feel? Admit it, you would be crushed! Traumatized for life! So, let's all assume she went crazy with grief and lived out a long lonely life in some asylum. There, happy? Good.

I tried to make Squall have a sad death. Squall figured that he was dead, so it wouldn't matter, and refused to be a drama queen. Blame him.

For those of you who want to bitch about my slowness, here's a statstic for ya: one and a half years, eleven chapters. So that's about a chapter every month and half to two months. I should be ashamed of myself.

Another note: Blame 's quick edit piece of crap. It deletes a ton of the symbols, so I'll have to fix it once it's really working -.-

Anyways, thanks for hanging this far : ) I really appreciate it .- Now, how about you go read a real story? Get some standards people! Come on!


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